I have been experimenting with using flexible clear pvc as a relief printing plate. So far it seems to be a great material that makes all parts of the process from transferring original designs to registering plates much easier. Lino printing is not my main technique so I may have missed something – but I’d say clear pvc printing plates are definitely worth a go if youhave never tried them.
Read More
Nowadays the shellac you come across is usually in a nail bar. Here we are looking at a different material – the original shellac. Find out why this is a really useful varnish and sealant for printmakers, particularly when making collagraph plates.
Read More
String prints enable you to create delicate organic forms with simple materials, these beautiful elegant mono prints will delight and surprise you time after time. This is one of those magic techniques that can absorb you for hours, the ‘just one more’ syndrome means it is hard to stop.
Read More
Quite often the simplest techniques produce the most interesting results – this is one of the fabric printing methods I often use with groups as it is very straightforward and also introduces people to the idea of masking and layering, both of which are key concepts in printmaking. Even though it is a simple process the end result is alwayssurprising and everyone can share the thrill of excitement you get when your print is revealed for the first time.
Read More
The urgent need to print can strike at any time: I was getting stuck into some serious gardening and started to move a stack of concrete paving slabs, which had been leaning up vertically for some time.
Between two slabs I discovered a wonderfulconstruction, like a map of abandoned catacombs. The work of thousands of ants, now long gone.
Here was inspiration – I urgently needed to preserve it as I could already feel a print forming in my mind.
Read More
You may remember learning in biology class about the way our eyes receive images onto the retina that are actually upside down AND reversed, these are interpreted by the brain so we see what we think is ‘normal’. Mirror drawing plays around with this idea to help you see things with new eyes.
Read More
