Technical Demonstrations

WORKSHOPS AND DEMONSTRATIONS

WORKSHOPS AND DEMOS

Andrew Baldwin Ink Ground

B.I.G. (Baldwins Ink Ground) is now 22 years old and is still growing in its popularity around the world. BIG is not just about working in a safer environment, it also offers greater versatility. The demonstration will cover the wide range of effects that can be achieved using the ground. These will include coffee lift, icing sugar, sandpaper and bicarbonate of soda aquatints, photo transfer, wet ground effects and more. To accompany the workshop a wide range of example prints which have been gathered over the last 22 years will be shown to illustrate the versatility of the ground.

Susanne Klein The Big Print

The BigPrint workshop is a communal event. We have invited printmakers, friends and family, students and the rest of the work to cut lino plates. There is no brief what should be on the plates. Everyone is free to choose a topic and a style. On the day the plates will be assembled to a large-scale printing plate. We hope that we will have as many helpers as possible to ink the plates and then print. We will not use a big roller but instead we will use barens and wooden spoons (bring you own baren or wooden spoon if you can). The emphasis is on communal again. The plates have been cut in different locations, but the print will be done in one location. It will not be the work of a single artist but one by many and hopefully capture time, dreams, fun and sweat by all involved.

Jess Bugler Takuhon - the original 3D print

Linking to the theme Touched and Touching, this is a technical demonstration by artist Jess Bugler, of the ancient Japanese art of Takuhon, the original 3D print.

Takuhon is the essence of a haptic process, where an object, its texture and dimensions are slowly captured, first by fixing its outline through the delicate process of tamping down dampened paper over its surface, and then by specially created tampo pads to reveal its detail through a gradual build-up of tone using Sumi ink. The final print becomes a unique translation of the original object.

The desired intensity of tone is under the fine control of the artist as it gradually builds up with each dab. Traditionally, some of the most prized Takuhon prints have a soft “misty” aesthetic, using very light inking and unhurried build-up of tone. But an even dark black can be desirable depending on the matrix. This sensitivity to the object makes Takuhon such an absorbing and fascinating process.

Takuhon or Taban has been recorded in China since the second century. The technique spread from China to Japan, where the word Takuhon originates. It was originally used to record carved religious inscriptions without damaging the surface. Objects that would be impossible to put through the press because of location, shape, size or texture are possible to print with Takuhon. Additionally the ink never comes into contact with the object’s surface, so delicate, fragile and absorbent materials can also be printed without damage.

Katrin Graalmann Tetra Pak Printmaking

Coming from a traditional printmaking background; working with aquatint etching, a kind of mezzotint and chine collé, I always put a great amount of effort and diligence into my work.

I had to learn to listen to my students’ voices, who prefer to work quickly, experimentally and always monotypically. As a conductor of printmaking at the University of Mainz with a broad range of skills and expertise, I show my students all the traditional techniques. But they choose the quick techniques to produce monotypes on glass, monotypes on zink plates or by using one carved woodprint to create monotypes with it. They like to use milk cartons instead of zink or copper plates to create a drypoint. They use cheap wrapping paper for chine collé and for relief printing, they use packaging cardboard instead of wood.

It is environmentally friendly and resourceful to use garbage and a lot of fun. I had to learn that my students are not lazy, and they are not simply avoiding putting in the effort to work with proper materials. Indeed, they are hard workers with a lot of engagement and the will to experiment with technological innovation.

Instead of creating a stable printing form, they explore and study the process of the transformation with the cheap and instable material and like to react to it. I will present some of my student’s work at the Impact conference and in my workshop, I will demonstrate some of the funny, quick and astonishing techniques my students developed to show that endurance and sincerity can bring wonderful results.

Michelle Avison Monotype Techniques with Cranfield Colour ‘Caligo’ Water Washable Inks

The particular qualities of the Cranfield Colour water washable inks allow exciting new ways of making monotypes. Instead of having to use harmful solvents to achieve delicate washes, it is possible to use simple, safe and environmentally friendly solvents- water, oil and soap, to achieve a wide range of painterly results which can be printed on an etching press and even by hand. Join artist Michelle Avison to see how she has developed the use of these inks in her recent series of Tide monotypes.

Nick Christie Electro Etching

Nick Christie will be lead a workshop in this environmentally friendly yet relatively underestimated form of intaglio printmaking, Electro etching. In this workshop, Nick will explain the process and science behind etching a metal plate using a small power unit and an electrolyte solution.

The benefits of this technique include no toxic fumes being emitted, a common side effect associated with traditional forms of acid etching. The etching of the metal is relatively clean and sharp, when compared to other methods. The electrolyte is not exhausted like other etching solutions and can be reused indefinitely. This also means that etch timings can be predicted far more accurately due to the chemistry balance.

You will have the opportunity to apply a ground to your plate, and draw into the surface using a sharp tool. The plate will be etched using the electro etching technique, and the exposed areas on the surface of the ground will be further etched into the metal. The lines and marks made will then be able to hold ink, and we will print the artworks onto high quality fine art paper, using the etching press.

You will be invited to draw onto the plate, and make marks. The purpose of the workshop is to discover the potential and qualities of the electro etching technique.

Nick will explain further the unique ways of working with electrolysis, including its increased sensitivity to drawing materials, galvanising the plate to have a raised surface, and etching the plate very deeply for embossing. You will be presented with examples of this innovative method of intaglio in action.

Alan Qualtrough and Beth Munro Print in Action – Hands On

Join Real Ideas Members Alan Qualtrough and Beth Munro, celebrating Print in Action through letterpress at IMPACT.

Print in Action is a new initiative born from the heart of the print community at Real Ideas venue Ocean Studios. A six-month campaign culminating in a new Print Festival for the South West from the 21–23 October October.

The festival highlights the spirit of collaboration, showcasing artists’ work through exhibitions, an affordable print fair, workshops, talks and taster sessions and everything in between.

Alan is interested in the materiality of letterpress and language and truth, so be prepared to make posters or leaflets around the theme of ‘Touch is Truth’.

Alan is a former newspaper editor and now typographer and letterpress printer at Ocean Studios, Plymouth. Beth combines letterpress with her lino prints and collagraphs made at Ocean Studios.

More information can be found: https://realideas.org/ print-in-action-festival/

Susan Brown Paper Lithography

Paper lithography, also known as gum arabic transfer, is an accessible printmaking process that relies on the immiscibility of oil and water. Using the humble photocopy or laser print as a printing matrix and gum Arabic to resist oil-based ink, it follows the same principles as traditional lithography, that is, oil attracts oil.

In its basic form, the inked copies can be transferred onto paper with or without an etching printing press. The process needs little in the way of specialised materials, equipment, or large studio space.

Paper lithography can also be used successfully on most fabrics from smooth cottons to textured velvets.

As it is an oil-based print, it can be used as a simple photographic resist when safe etching on zinc or aluminium etched with Copper Sulphate.

Images can be original photographs or drawings that have been photocopied using toner or printed using a laser copier. Relying on the copy being strongly contrasting, black and white for the best results.

Layered with other processes makes paper lithography a useful process for a mixed media practice and a simple way to add text to projects. I aim to demonstrate the flexibility of paper lithography, and how it can be used effectively with basic printmaking equipment and little economical outlay. From the basics to using the technique in an experimental and complex way as part of a mixed media practice on paper and textiles. To expanding its uses by using the process as a simple way of creating a photographic look to etching without the complicated chemicals. As a printmaking technique, paper lithography has a wealth of applications. The process is as accessible to artists new to printmaking as it is to those with an established printmaking practice.

Sonny Lightfoot and Tavs Jorgensen Clay Extrusion with 3D Printed Dies and Immense Hydraulic Force!

This technical demonstration will feature work undertaken during an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, which investigates new approaches to the ceramics extrusion process. The research mainly focuses on using low-cost 3D printers to create the extrusion profiles – also known as dies, which perform the actual shaping of the clay. However, the project also investigates concepts of toolmaking more broadly. The research team created almost all the tools and machinery used in this demonstration – including an immensely powerful hydraulic extrusion machine!

Simon Tozer Screenprinted ImpCat

Bristol-based artist and printmaker Simon Tozer, who created the illustrations for the IMPACT conference and the REMO online platform will be screenprinting ImpCat the conference cat onto the reverse side of the IMPACT bags.

Please remember to iron the bags when you are at home to ensure your image is fixed.

Notes

Notes