Author: handprinted

Meet the Maker: Zeena Shah

You may have seen Zeena at the Handmade Fair or Handmade Christmas Fair this year or even taken part in one of her workshops! If not, it’s about time you
meet Zeena Shah!

 

Hello! I’m a Printed Textile Designer & Maker based in East London. I screen print and sew a collection of textile goods for your home as well as teach
workshops all over London and the UK sharing my printing know how and tips. I have just launched my first book ‘How to Print Fabric
‘ that features twenty projects that you can print and sew!

Describe your design process.

I’m always so inspired by nature and the everyday, a design often emerges because I’ve collected a bundle of leaves from some fallen trees, drawn them
and then cut them out of paper ready for a stencil screen print. Then there will be a bit of experimenting until I have the right layout, shapes and
colour before it a design is turned into a product ready to sell.

How and where did you learn to design and print textiles?

I studied Textile Design at Chelsea school of Art in London. It was a wonderful course, we were all one big happy textiles family!

Why textile printing?

I actually didn’t intend on being a Textile Designer when I first started my Art foundation course, I thought I might be graphic designer or a fashion
stylist but something just clicked with printmaking and that’s how it all began!

Where do you work?

I work in my East London studio space, it is very chilly at the moment as we have no heating!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I arrive at the studio bright and early, I seem to spend most of my time lately at my mac, replying to emails, business admin etc but I try to only spend
the first part of the day at my desk and then it’s over to the print table to make up my orders, work on commissions or package up some books. I’m
a bit of a workaholic/ night owl and am often still in the studio past 7pm (it’s always my most creative time) before heading home for the night!

How long have you been printmaking?

Since I graduated from art school in 2007! Gosh I feel old..! That’s 8 years of glorious printmaking!

What inspires you?

Everything and anything from the weather outside to nature and animals. These are always the most prominent images found in my collections and my favourites.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

It would have to be my silk screen and squeegee, I couldn’t live without these two things although a piece of lino and a lino cutter aren’t far behind!

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I would have to say that would be my book! How to Print Fabric
was published just over a month ago and I still can’t quite believe it’s here. It is a real labour of love and a collection of twenty of my favourite
printing techniques and sewing projects. It includes things I really love making and wanted to share with my wonderful followers and friends.

 

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

You can find my work on my website www.zeenashah.com as well as Etsy and various other stockist all over the UK and worldwide. My book can be found on Amazon.

What will we be seeing from Zeena Shah next?

I’ve actually just finished my second book…! It will be a beautiful illustrated adult colouring book with 48 illustrations designed and hand drawn by
me for you to colour in! It will be out next year so keep your eyes on my social networks to find out more!

 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers, designers and creatives?

Stay true to your own voice, keep going as hard work and determination will pay off in the end!

Easy Christmas Cards Six Ways

We’ve had a lot of fun this week working on easy, quick and fun ways to print your own Christmas cards! We’ve come up with six simple ways for you to try.
Take a look at our instructions below and have a go yourself.  

Bah Humbug Lino Printed Card

This two-layered lino card is quick, easy and so effective on these square kraft cards.

  • Print or draw your design onto paper. Trace your design so that it is in reverse.
  • Use a piece of tracedown to transfer the design onto a piece of lino.
  • Carve out the unwanted areas of the design with a lino tool.
  • Ink up the lino using a roller. We used white for our first colour.
  • Place a card on top and use a baren to rub all over the back to transfer the print.
  • Lift off the card to reveal your first layer! Leave to dry. Print all of your cards with the first layer. 
  • Use the lino tool so remove any areas of the print that you wish to remain white.We carved in stripes on our humbug and on the border. We also removed
    the cellophane sweet ends so that they would remain white.
  • Ink up the lino with your second colour. We used black.
  • As before, place your card on top and transfer the print with a baren.
  • Lift off the card to reveal your print! Print over the top of each of your first layer cards.

To download printable instructions for this card click here.   

Drypoint Robin Christmas Card

This drypoint card can be traced from a photograph into a simple line drawing. A mono-printed red breast is made with a swipe of an inky thumb and will
be slightly different on each card you print!

This method requires a press so feel free to pop into our studio to print yours!  


  • Use a piece of drypoint plastic slightly smaller than
    the card you will be printing on. Tape
    the plastic over the image and trace it using an etching needle.
  • Use a wadded up piece of fabric to daub etching ink all over your drawing. Use a piece of mount board to scrape off the excess.
  • Wipe off the ink using a piece of scrim with a twisting action.
  • Clean any remaining ink off the plate with a cloth. Be careful not to take too much ink out of the lines.
  • Use your thumb to apply a smudge of red ink to the robin’s chest.
  • Dampen your card with a sponge. Blot it with a j-cloth to remove excess water. It should feel slightly damp but not wet.
  • Place the plate face up on the etching press. Place the card on top. Cover with the blankets and put through the press.
  • Lift the card to reveal your print.
  • Ink up the plate as before ready for your next card.

To download printable instructions for this card, click here.  

Mastercut Holly Christmas Card

This card is such a quick make and is so easy to print in large quantities with Versacraft ink pads. A pencil eraser is a resourceful and quick way to print the berries! 

  • Draw the leaf shapes onto a piece of Mastercut. 
  • Use a lino tool to carve around
    the edges of each leaf. Carve in any detail such as the vein through the middle.
  • Cut around each leaf with a craft knife.
  • Ink up the Mastercut using a Versacraft ink pad.
  • Place the stamp face down on the card.
    Press down all over with the flat of your hand.
  • Repeat with each of your stamps.
  • Use the eraser end of a pencil to print red berries by dabbing it into a Versacraft ink pad.

To download printable instructions for this card, click here.  

Safeprint Bauble Christmas Card

This is a great option to print with children. Safeprint sheets of polystyrene are brilliant for quick printing. You need hardly any materials – the patterns are printed with the end of a biro! You’ll just need to cut out the
shape for them as, to get neat edges, it needs to be done with a craft knife.

 

  • Draw the shape onto a piece of safeprint with a pencil.
  • Cut it out using a craft knife.
  • Unscrew the end of a biro and use it to press circles into the safeprint.
  • Use the end of the biro ink tube to press in smaller dots. Add detail using a sharp pencil.
  • Roll out a thin layer of block printing ink onto a tray.
  • Roll the ink onto the safeprint.
  • Place the safeprint face down onto a card. use a dry roller to roll all over the back of the safeprint.
  • Carefully lift off the safeprint to reveal your print!

To download printable instructions for this card, click here.  

Foiled Christmas Card

This is one of our favourite ways to make a card, and it certainly the quickest! You will need a black toner photocopy of your design. This can be from
a carbon photocopier or toner printer. Inkjet will not work with this method.

  • Place the foil shiny side up on the
    carbon photocopy.
  • Place a sheet of grease-proof paper on top.
  • Ion on a medium heat for about ten seconds. You will see when it is ready as the foil will stick.
  • Peel off the excess foil to reveal your foiled design!

To download printable instructions for this card, click here.  

Screen Printed Snowflake Christmas Card

These cutout snowflakes make the perfect paper stencils for a screen printed card. Layered up with silver ink, these cards are so Christmassy, we couldn’t
stop printing them!

  • To make a snowflake start with a small square of paper.
  • Fold in half diagonally and then half again.
  • Fold the left side towards the middle and then the right side over the left – the pictures will help if you’re confused at this point!
  • Cut off the pointy tips to make a folder triangle.
  • Cut shapes into the edges of your triangle and unfold to reveal your snowflake!
  •  Make a selection of these snowflakes to be layered up on your cards – we made so many – they’re so addictive!
  • Place the card on a hard surface. If you’re using hinge clamps on your screen, use masking tape to mark where each card should be placed.
  • Use parcel tape to mask
    tape all over your screen,
    leaving an opening the same size and shape as your card.
  • Place your screen on top of the card and stencils and print with a squeegee and screen printing ink.
  • Your stencils should stick to the screen ready for the next print.
  • When the cards are dry, overlay more snowflakes on top and print with another colour. We with silver over our icy blue.

To download printable instructions for this card, click here.

We hope you have given you some ideas for how to print your Christmas cards this year. Try one method, or try them all! 

  

Meet the Maker: Arati Devasher

This Meet the Maker post is all about the fabulous Arati Devasher! Arati’s work is beautiful and we are so pleased to be able to share her work and techniques
with you:

 

I’m a book designer by profession and an artist by inclination… the structure required by book design can be restricting so it’s in my artwork that
I express myself uninhibitedly. I make hand painted one-of-a-kind silk scarves and ties, drawings and paintings. I work in several different media
for the simple reason that some ideas need to be expressed in pen, others in watercolours or pastels, and more on silk or other materials.

 

 

Describe your process

I’ve never been comfortable planning my work with a sketch or layout… I doodle, and that turns into a finished piece… I do sketch of course,
and that can be the source for a design, though the result rarely looks very much like the point of origin. In drawing and painting I work pretty much
as traditionally as everyone else does… on silk, however, I have my own methods:

I learned how to paint silk using the traditional gutta serti method of creating outlines with a resist and filling them in with dye. I then moved on to
soy wax batik, which suits my artwork and style more; hot wax and dye are applied in layers to preserve areas of colour and create a reverse pattern.
I also work with Resistad, which gives me great flexibility in being able to ‘draw’ on the silk in the manner I would on paper without changing the
‘hand’ or feel of the silk. It’s beginning to be my favourite medium even over and above hot wax batik. Another technique is to spray the silk with
starch to restrict the flow of the dye and simply paint freehand as though it were a canvas.

Ultimately, though, I use all these techniques depending on the design I want to create… sometimes, I will use all the techniques on a single scarf.

Making could take from half a day to several days depending on the complexity. Once I’m done making the pattern, the silk scarf (or tie) is rolled in paper
and steamed at a high temperature for a few hours in order to set the dye to be colourfast. I then wash and iron, hand-hem if needed, photograph for
my records and it’s ready to wear!

How and where did you learn silk painting and batik?

I’ve drawn and painted all my life, but since silk painting isn’t taught at most universities and is considered a craft rather than an art, it was only
a couple of years ago that I quite literally stumbled upon it. And from the moment I tried it – first iron-fix silk paints and then the more vibrant
silk dyes – I was hooked. I couldn’t find a class that I could attend, but silk painters are so helpful, and share information freely… Isabella
Whitworth, Pamela Glose, Ron Gutman and the SPIN silk painters group, are only some of the lovely people who did so, and of course YouTube is an invaluable
help when stuck. Now that I know the basic techniques, it’s just a matter of experimentation in order to achieve what I want to do on the silk.

Do you only work on silk or do you also work on other fabrics?

Currently I only make scarves and ties in silk… and as it takes a great deal of time and effort to make each, it’s appropriate that it should
be made in a luxurious fabric that works in all seasons. I draw and paint on paper and canvas as well, and might be working on wool or cotton in
the future.

Where do you work?

Our spare bedroom is my studio for most of the year. It’s kitted out with an eight foot catering table that folds away when guests arrive. And I drew
the yellow mural on the wall to brighten the room on dull and rainy days. Yellow is my favourite colour. So bright and happy!

Describe a typical day in your studio

Because I work from home and also work as a freelance designer, it’s a mix of housework, book design, and art. It varies from day to day in terms of
what I need to accomplish… I run through admin, answer emails, field phone calls from publishing clients, design books, and when all that
is done, turn to my studio to create a piece that takes all the stresses of the day away.

How long have you been making your scarves (and other work)?

I’ve been drawing and painting since I was a child and then did my university degree in art. Silk painting was a chance discovery a couple of years
ago. I then took a leap and opened my Etsy shop in August 2014.

 

What inspires you?

I read a lot, and also love to people-watch, and from the colours and shapes and ideas I see, my overactive imagination converts them to something
my hand can execute on paper, canvas or silk. I was born and brought up in India, so the colours and patterns I use are influenced by my heritage,
but I’ve a very modern aesthetic in terms of my own personal taste, so I try to mix the two in a manner that is pleasing.

What are your favourite products and tools?

I am addicted to the Pro-Arte sable and squirrel hair brushes… I tend to use those for nearly everything from painting paper to silk and hot
wax. Sennelier oil pastels are my favourite. And I love handmade Khadi paper which I use a lot nowadays particularly for my kitchen wall art.

 

I use Jacquard Green Label dyes for silk… also, soy batik wax flakes as the wax, and gutta by Marabu.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I think I was most proud of the first scarf I made – ‘Spring Garden’ from my Heritage series – using steam-fix dye rather than iron-fix paint…
I was apprehensive about all the colour washing out because I didn’t know whether I’d done things right while fixing it! It was such a relief,
and I was so excited! Such a surreal moment.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

I sell on my website or by contacting me directly. My silk scarves and ties are also
stocked at Things British on the upper level of the Grand Terrace at St Pancras International Station in London.

What will we be seeing from Arati Devasher next?

I’m doing some research into Shibori and Indigo dyeing, and am planning to have a collection of cotton scarves made in these techniques ready for next
summer. It’s in the planning stages yet, so hopefully it’ll come along on time! And a long time in the future perhaps a range of apparel.

Do you have any advice for other creatives?

Keep doing what you love, and experiment. It’ll all work out in the end while you have fun along the way.

You can see more of Arati Devasher’s inspiring work by visiting her website or you
can contact her on info@aratidevasher.co.uk

If you would like us to stock any more of the products that Arati uses please email us at shop@handprinted.co.uk or call 01243 696789 and we will
see what we can do for you!

 

(Photographs by Yeshen Venema)

Japanese Woodblock Course with Laura Boswell

I was lucky enough to attend a Japanese Woodblock Course with Laura Boswell a couple of weekends ago. Laura’s work can be seen on her website.

Japanese Woodblock – Mokuhanga (Moku meaning wood and Hanga printmaking) is a relief printmaking method which is similar to printing with lino. There are a few differences in the way you cut your block, registration, paper preparation but I think the main difference is the way you ink your block. Instead of using rollers and block printing ink you use watercolour paint and Nori paste (rice flour paste). This gives you lots of flexibility with blending colours and creative inking. It also means you don’t need a huge amount of kit to start – just Japanese Ply, Japanese Woodcut Tools, Watercolour Paints, Nori Paste, Inking Brushes and a Baren.

Laura got us to all to design an image that would involve cutting more than one plate. We then traced the layers onto our piece of ply.

Most of the design was cut using the Hangito knife held like a weapon rather than a pencil, the V tool was hardly ever used during the weekend.

Cutting the Kento marks – these were key and would enable us to get good tight registration.

Inking up using a mix of watercolour paints and Nori paste.

The paint and nori paste is mixed on the block using Japanese Inking brushes. You don’t need much and you want the wood just to appear to have a sheen rather than be swimming in ink. Only the ink on the surface will print the excess ink will flow away into the gulley.

Laura mid demonstration.

Here are the other participants’ prints from the weekend.

Meet the Maker: hello DODO

This month we are meeting the fabulous duo behind hello DODO! We love their work and are so thrilled to be able to chat to them about it:

Hello! We are Ali & Jam AKA hello DODO, playful printmakers and designers from sunny Brighton. We met at university over 10 years ago (eeek) where Jam studied Graphic Design with Typography and Ali studied Design Photography.

How and where did you learn to screen print?

Jam had done a tiny bit of screen printing at uni whereas as I had done zero, but the process fascinated and made sense to me as an analogue photographer. We decided to teach ourselves to screen print from home, which was very VERY challenging. We probably made every mistake in the book! Our first silkscreen supplier sold us some really shoddy kit too, which didn’t help! In hindsight we should have done a screen printing crash course but now we can say that we’re self taught and can be proud of that!!

Why screen printing?

Screen printing just made sense for us, we wanted to create bold and colourful graphics that could span paper and textile and we wanted to use a traditional, hands on method.

Where do you work?

All of our printing is done from home on our homemade press which is called Preston. We have literally (!) only just upgraded to having a room which is a joint office and printing studio, until now it’s been kitchen worktop all the way!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

A typical day (when not working for clients) would be coffee and toast whilst replying to emails at about 9am, then on to packing orders and getting those to the post office (luckily just round the corner!) Then it’s usually screen printing, either for orders to go out the next day or creating stock for upcoming markets. Quick lunch whilst back on the emails, online shop maintenance and updating social media. Then back to the squeegee, probably accompanied with a cuppa tea! Evenings are usually a mix of social media and listing new products online.

How long have you been printmaking? How long has hello DODO been going?

hello DODO has just turned 4! It’s strange because it’s hard to remember a time when our lives didn’t revolve around it. We started printmaking about a year before that.

What inspires you?

With every hello DODO design we try to create something that’ll make people smile, so fun is our main inspiration! Animals, bright colours and amazing/terrible puns also feature heavily in our work as well as the seaside, all things which make us happy.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

We’re VERY attached to our squeegee and can’t imagine ever replacing it!! Other than that we’re big fans of Speedball inks, the colours are fantastic.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

It’s a bit of an oldie now but our ‘I Love a Nice Lion on a Sunday’ screen print is still as popular today as when we first launched it and at markets gets everyone chuckling, young and old! From a scribble in a sketchbook when we were on holiday to our most well known and loved design, we’re pretty proud of it! It’s also a relief that so many people share our ridiculous sense of humour! Other than that, we make a pretty awesome vegetable curry.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

You can find our work online in our Etsy shops and in a bunch of independent shops around the country. At Christmas you’ll find us at lots of fairs in Brighton and London, the Brighton Etsy Market, Renegade, BUST, Crafty Fox to name just a few!

What will we be seeing from hello DODO next?

Ok, as you asked you’ve got the exclusive, awesome and adorable babywear is about to drop!

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

It’s obvious advice that everyone repeats, but if you’re struggling to get something right try, try, try again. Then maybe have a cup of tea and try again. When you eventually nail it nothing beats that feeling! Also never waste ink and always wash your screens out thoroughly!

Now that you love hello DODO as much as we do we know you’ll want to take a look at their website!

Gelli Printed Decoupage Stool

The best thing about printing with Gelli Plates is how fast it is to create a bundle of fantastic textures and designs! But what do you then do with all these lovely prints? Here’s a project that is a great way to use all your gelli prints to create something lasting.

Here’s how we made our Gelli Printed Decoupage Stool:

We are using our 8×10″ Gelli Plate but for a project like this you could use any size or shape. Squeeze a little acrylic paint onto your plate.

Roll out your paint onto the plate. You want an even thin layer. Too much paint will be squelchy and produce messy prints.

Create different textures on your plate by pressing, scraping and drawing into the paint (be careful not to use anything sharp that will damage the surface).Try using bubble wrap to get polka dots:

Peel off the bubble wrap to reveal your texture.

We’re using Logan Paper to print on –  a translucent deli paper that’s loved for Gelli printing and perfect for decoupage as it is beautiful when layered. Place your Logan paper over your plate and rub with the flat of your hand.

Peel off your paper to reveal your print!

You can take a second print from the plate to remove any excess paint. You can get some really lovely and unexpected prints this way. I used the leftover paint to print on the unprinted strip of paper on the side.

Place your paper to one side to dry.

Add more paint to your plate (without having to clean it first!) and roll it out again ready for the next texture. Try corrugated cardboard:

Add a few blobs of paint in another colour and roll it out.

This time we’re using some sequin waste and a scraper to make marks.

Experiment with blending colours on your plate!

When you have a pile of prints with a variety of patterns, clean your plate. You can use a baby wipe or a damp cloth to remove any excess paint. Store your plate back in its case with its protective plastic covers.

Here our stool ready for its makeover.

We applied a quick undercoat of white paint.

Gather together all of your prints.

We cut ours up into strips but you could choose any shape.

Put a little Mod Podge on a foam brush.

Apply it to a section of your surface.

Take a piece of print and stick it down. Use your hand to flatten out any wrinkles and the foam brush to push down the corners.

Keep adding areas of Mod Podge and layering up prints. Most of the prints will be translucent and you will be able to see partially through to the layers underneath to create new colours and patterns. We used only red and blue paint so we could make purple when overlaying prints.

When you are finished layering and are happy with how to looks add a final thin layer of Mod Podge over the top as a sealant. Make sure to go round all the edges to tuck any loose bits round. I had to patch a few bits on the side where I had left gaps.

To have a go yourself you will need:

Block Printed Chair

If you’re a lover of relief printing (or would like to be) but squeezing little prints through a press isn’t your thing, here’s an idea for block printing
that’s a little different:

We recently got hold of a couple of lovely old chairs that were in need of a little TLC. We’re using a piece of SoftCut Lino and Caligo Relief Inks to revamp this one!

Here’s how to do it it:

We used a piece of 75x75mm SoftCut Lino.
We used SoftCut because it’s easy to carve and can be bent around curves – perfect for the design of this chair. Use a soft pencil to draw your design
onto the SoftCut.

Use a lino tool with a deep V shape to
carve the edges of your design.

Use a larger, flatter U shape tool to clear all the areas that you don’t want to print.

Mix up your ink. We are using Caligo Relief Inks which are completely lovely to work with and easy to mix into the perfect shade. They’re oil based but water soluble so they’re easy to clean up with
water.

When you have mixed your shade, roll out a small area of the ink onto your glass or palette. It shouldn’t be squelchingly thick – you should hear a satisfying
zzzz sound when rolling.

Roll your ink onto your block. You can use a paper towel to remove any unwanted ink from the cut away parts of the stamp.

Place the stamp face down on the chair. We measured out the centre and started here at the bottom of the chair. The SoftCut is perfect for this as it can be bent round the curve of the wood!

Press all over the back of the stamp with the flat of your hand. Be careful to hold the stamp still! The wooden surface can be slippery and the stamp can
sometimes slide (luckily the ink can be immediately wiped off with a damp cloth in case of any slips – phew!)

Place the next stamp alongside the first one and repeat. Take care not the smudge the previous print as it will take a while to dry.

It gets a lot easier once you get onto the flat of the chair.

Bend the SoftCut around any more curved bits of wood, making sure it doesn’t slip.

Here is the seat of our chair!

We turned out chair upside down to print the back so that it was flat and therefore a much easier surface to work on.

You can use just part of your stamp to fill in the last little spaces. Just position it where the next stamp would go.

Our final chair!

You will need:

Colour Blending with Versacraft and Mastercut

There is so much that you can do with Versacraft Ink Pads. You can use them to print on paper, shrink
plastic, polymer clay, wood, porcelain, leather and fabric. Our latest project for these versatile ink pads is colour blending. Here’s how we used
Mastercut andVersacraft to make a printed
tea towel:

Start by drawing onto your stamping material with a soft pencil. We are using a piece of 100x100mm Mastercut.

Cut out your design using a scalpel or blade. Mastercut is soft and very easy to cut so fairly detailed
shapes can be achieved.

Use a lino cutting tool to cut detail into your stamp.

Use the Versacraft Ink Pads to cover the stamp in ink. We started with one base colour all over
the stamp. This Cerulean Blue is stunning for our cornflower print.

Next, take a kitchen sponge and cut it into a few smaller pieces. You can use these pieces of sponge to transfer the ink from the ink pad to the stamp.
Try to keep separate pieces of sponge for the different ink pads so not to mix up the colours on the pads.

You can blend as many colours as you like onto the stamp. Keep adding until you are happy with how it looks.

Place the stamp face down onto your surface. We are printing onto a tea towel. Press down all over
the back of your stamp with the flat of your hand. Make sure to press down over all of the edges.

Carefully lift your stamp to reveal your print! This print is a blend of Cerulean, Midnight and Forest Versacraft pads.

For a zingy centre of this next print, we added Lemon Yellow.

Here we went for dusty hues with Wisteria, Cerulean and Ultramarine.

Each print can be completely individual.

We have printed our cornflowers in a scatter pattern on our tea towel. The slightly different colour
ways look fantastic all together and covering the whole surface did not take long to do!

When your prints are dry, heat set them with an iron. This means that they will be permanent and washable.

Our finished tea towel!

You will need:

You can find printable instructions here.

Drypoint Printing

Drypoint is an intaglio printmaking method that involves scratching an image into a plate with a pointed tool. These lines create a burr that holds ink, meaning that the print reveals the drawing. Intaglio printmaking is the opposite of relief printmaking as it is the positive marks that are printed rather than the areas that are left behind.

Drypoint is an easy technique to get to grips with and is a great method if you would like to take your drawings into print. It’s easier than etching as it requires less specialist equipment and no chemicals or acids. Drypoint plates can be made in copper, zinc or plastic. We love to use Drypoint Plastic as it is easy to draw into and a drawing can be traced through it!

Here’s how to do it:

Place your Drypoint Plastic over your image. It is a good idea to draw round your plate so you can reposition if needed.

Use an etching needle to trace your drawing with your tool into the surface of the plate. Experiment with pressing hard or softly to create different marks.

You may need to hold you plate up to the light away from your drawing to see how it is looking as it can be difficult to see your marks in the transparent plastic.

When your plate is finished, you are ready to print! First, soak a piece of printing paper. We are using Somerset Satin White 300gsm. You want to soak your paper in clean water for about 5 minutes. This helps to draw the ink out of the burred lines of your plate. After this time, remove your paper from the water and blot it on blotting paper or a clean piece of fabric. The paper should feel very slightly damp to the touch but not wet. If the paper is too wet when printed it will blur the lines of the print. If too dry, your image will appear too pale.

Caligo Etching Ink is oil based and water soluble so it is washable in water. We love printing with this ink. It has a tacky but not too oily consistency and the pigmentation is strong. Squeeze out a little ink onto an inking plate.

Use a dauber or a wadded up piece of fabric to dab ink all over the drawn areas of your plate.

Use a small piece of mount board or an store reward card (make sure it is a soft flexible one otherwise you risk scratching your plate) to scrape the excess ink off the plate. This also helps to fill the drawn lines with ink.

Use scrim to wipe the plate in circular twisting movements, removing excess ink and pushing the ink into the burred lines.

Next, use a piece of newspaper, tissue or an old phone book page and continue to wipe the ink in circular motions. This should start to reveal your drawing.

Finally, wipe your plate with a piece of soft fabric. Wad up the fabric and remove excess ink from the areas of your plate you do not want to print. You can create a point with your fabric to wipe small areas of your plate for detail: here we have wiped the centre line of the feather and some of the spots. Wipe the edges of the plate so that a border is not printed onto your paper.

You should be able to see your drawing filled with ink. Any smudges can be removed with the fabric. For a little plate tone, leave some of the smudged ink on the plate – this is an opportunity to be a little experimental with your image, much like you would be with a mono- print.

To create a registration sheet, use a large sheet of paper (photocopy paper is fine) draw around the piece of printmaking paper, remove and then position the drypoint plate onto the registration sheet and draw around this. This will ensure all images are positioned in the same place on each piece of paper.

Place your plate face up on the registration sheet on the print bed. We are using our etching press. Place your slightly dampened paper on top of the plate.

The pressure of the press combined with the dampened paper should draw the ink out of the lines of the plate. The pressure on the press should be quite firm.

After the print has gone through the press, peel off the paper to reveal your print!

Your plate can now be inked up and wiped again for another print! When you have finished printing, the ink can be cleaned up with cold water, washing up liquid and a rag.

If your print appears a little too pale, try wiping less ink off your plate (it is possible that you have removed too much ink) or dry dampening your paper a little more next time.

If your print is a little smudged or blurry, dampen your paper less or blot it more before printing.

If your print appears too dark, wipe off more ink before printing! Here are a few of our prints taken with this plate to illustrate the different styles of inking:

To print a drypoint you will need:

Screen Printing a Repeat Pattern

Printing a length of your own designed fabric is so exciting but most of us do not have the luxury of a fabric registration table. Here’s an easy step by step guide to printing a repeat pattern on a length of fabric using an A4 43T screen.

Draw the design motifs onto paper.

Trace your motifs onto tracing paper using a black pen.

Cut out the motifs.

Cut a piece of paper 17cm x 25cm and divide it into quarters. Label these pieces

1 2

3 4

Using double sided sticky tape (or rolled up tape) position the motifs onto the paper.

Draw around any motifs that go over a cut edge – this will show where the motifs should go when you rearrange the quarters.

Rearrange the pieces into

4 3

2 1

and fill in with more motifs.

Check the design will fit on an A4 sheet (we will be using A4 film and an A4 screen.)

Trace your design onto film, using an opaque marker. Keep the edges of the film straight along the top edge of the paper. This is fairly crucial as the design needs to be parallel to the screen for registration.

Expose your screen with the edges of the positive exactly straight within the screen (this is crucial when you come to print). You could use a Speedball UV light for this.

Pin your fabric to a padded surface and iron flat.

Put a piece of masking tape horizontally along the length of the fabric. Mark with verticals every 17cm and number.

Mix your ink using Binder and Pigments or use a ready mixed ink such as Speedball Fabric or Permaset Aqua.

Print all the odd numbered images, this will give time for the image to dry – a quick blast with a hairdryer will help.

Print the even numbered images.

Place the film in the correct position for the second row of printing. Place the screen on top and use a marker pen to trace elements that will help you with positioning on your screen.

Remove the film and print the odd numbered images and then the even images as before. Continue until you have printed your entire fabric.

For this project you will need: