We’ve been thrilled to have Laura Boswell here for two Japanese Woodblock Workshops over four days this week. Laura’s workshops are packed with essential
woodblock skills and invaluable advice to get you started with the art of Japanese Woodblock.

Over the course of each two day workshop, the techniques are broken down into separate skills that Laura demonstrates before going round the group to help
each person achieve each skill. On the first day of the workshop we learned the correct way to use a Hangito tool and how to carve a block.

We then designed our prints and, with help from Laura, worked out the order in which the blocks would be printed before transferring our design onto
Japanese ply.

After the edges of a block has been cut with the Hangito, the U tools are used to carve a gully around the edge of each shape. 

The elegant Japanese registration system of Kento marks enables your blocks to line up perfectly so that they fit together and can be overprinted for layers
of tone and shading.

After a full day of designing and carving, the blocks were ready to print. 

Japanese Woodblock uses watercolour paints and nori rice paste. The blocks are inked up with brushes. 

Laura demonstrated how to ink up and print your blocks using a baren…

…and we spent the day printing with and layering our blocks to form our design. 

 

Here are some examples of the work produced over the two workshops:

Book now to reserve your place on next October’s weekend and weekday workshops! The weekend workshop
has only two places remaining.

 

Hi I’m Scarlett Rebecca, a printmaker living in Brighton. I split myself between two creative lives; half the time I work from my studio as surface pattern
designer using printmaking in my designs and the other half as a fine art printmaker and technical demonstrator at Brighton University.

 

Describe your printmaking process.

I am a relief printmaker and I predominantly use linocut, when I am working at the studio I will draw from life and work these drawings into a rough pattern.
Then I will cut them as intuitively as I can, without relying too heavily on the drawing. I will then print the designs on my little nipping press
and turn them into a technical repeat in Photoshop or Illustrator.

 

How and where did you learn to print?

I started printing when I was in High School, we had to do forgeries as part of our technical understanding and I chose a Cyril Power linocut. Since then
I’ve been hooked, I studied textile printmaking and I’ve done many short courses, including ones at Print Club London and BIP here in Brighton. The
last course I did earlier this year was etched lino at The Art Academy with the wonderfully talented Steve Edwards.

Why printmaking?

Because it is unquestionably the best art form, I try to tell everyone this. The texture, the shapes, the depth of mark and colour, I love it! I think
people unfamiliar with printmaking are often scared or intimidated by it. I want everyone to try it and love it. I have been teaching print classes
for nearly 10 years, now I run print workshops for couples from my studio.

 

Where do you work?

I split my week between my studio in central Brighton and the fine art printmaking department at Brighton University where I work as a technical demonstrator
for lithography. During the summer break while the students have been away I have been researching and experimenting with lithography techniques. I
have had a huge amount of fun trying out Mokulito – lithography using plywood instead of stone or metal. It’s an incredibly exciting technique as your
results will differ depending on which type of wood you use, plus you can employ woodcut techniques to the surface!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I usually get to my shared studio between 10 – 11 and stay there until 8 or 9, depending on how absorbed I get. I will answer emails and do as much ‘boring’
stuff as I can first and then I will warm myself up with some drawing, usually listening to Desert Island Discs podcasts. Then I will look over what
I have been working on the day before to make sure it’s not rubbish! I have been working more and more in illustrator recently, trying to capture/retain
the textured effects of my linocuts and I am not very fast so this takes up a lot of my time! I try to get out for a little break in the afternoon
but I am naughty and sometimes I will stay at my desk all day. When I am bleary eyed and probably making rubbish work I will walk home.

 

What inspires you?

Pattern, texture and shape. I take a lot of inspiration from the natural world; wildlife, flora and fauna. I try to take inspiration from the world around
me, I recently challenged myself to 100 days of finding pattern (you can see my finds on my twitter) since then I am seeing pattern and inspiration
everywhere!

What is your favourite printmaking product?

My Pfiel cutters, they are my most
treasured printmaking possessions, and proper fresh battleship grey lino, I just love the smell.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I started a side project last year aiming to use up my small scraps of lino, I cut an A-Z of small wildlife illustrations. It used up my lino scraps perfectly
(I had to be a bit inventive with some drawings!) and I enjoyed learning about British wildlife.

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

I sell cards and prints in a couple of shops here in Brighton and you will find me at the Christmas Open House Festival at Bluebell Would house, and I
will be doing the Fairy Tale Fair at the Open Market on November 26^th.

Online you can buy my work from my shop.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I have a few larger scale linocuts planned that I will be slowly working on over the next few months alongside design work. I will be working on a stone
lithograph for an upcoming exhibition of stone lithography in Japan, translating an image of my brain from a recent brain scan onto the stone.

 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Draw every day.

 

Keep up to date with Scarlett Rebecca and her work on Instagram, Twitter and via her website and shop!

 

Screen printing is a brilliant way to make the most of your hand drawn designs. It enables you to print them multiple times for framed artwork or cards
or to create your own fabrics, bags and t-shirts. You can use your designs to make into photographic screens yourself at home or we can make them here for you at Handprinted. However you’re making your photographic screens, you’ll need to get your artwork
ready. 

An important rule for making photographic screens is that your design needs to be full black and white. This is different to a grey-scale image (like a
black and white photograph) which has tones of grey. The whole of your design needs to consist of only completely black and completely white areas.
In this post we’re going to look at creating screen-ready artwork from hand drawn, scanned designs. 

The image above is a hand drawn design for screen printing. It consists only of black and white areas and has been made screen ready in Adobe Photoshop.

When screens are exposed they are coated with a layer of light sensitive Photo Emulsion and Sensitiser mix. The emulsion coated screen is exposed to a light with a printed film of your design between the light and the screen.
When the emulsion is exposed to light, the black areas of the design block the light, stopping it reaching the emulsion. The white areas of the design
(transparent on the film) let the light through, allowing the light to expose the emulsion. The exposed areas of emulsion go hard and block the holes
in the mesh – ink will not go through these areas. The unexposed areas stay soft and washable – the soft emulsion washes out of the screen creating
open mesh that ink can pass through. 

Creating a Suitable Drawing for Screen Printing

Some drawn designs will be suitable for creating screens and others will not. The drawing below on the left has been drawn with pencil with lots of shading.
These grey tones will not be suitable for making a screen as they will not be able to create clear areas of open and closed mesh. The drawing on the
right has been drawn in pen. Shading has been achieved using thin hatching. This design is made up of just black and white areas so will be suitable
for a screen! Drawings in pen will always be easier to work with than drawings in pencil which will need a lot of darkening to make them fully black. 

If you’re sending your design to Handprinted to have a Custom Exposed Screen made you will need to scan your drawing and get it ready. Here are a few basic ways to get your image ready
for a screen using Adobe Photoshop. There are lots of free or cheaper programmes that will have similar tools that you can use too.

Preparing a Scanned Drawing

When you scan your drawing into your computer the background will usually come out slightly off-white and your black areas will come out dark grey. 

To lighten up the background and darken your image you can use Levels. Go to Image – Adjustment – Levels and a box will appear
with a graph on it. This graph shows how your light levels look. There are three arrows beneath the graph. You can move these arrows left and right
to change the levels. Move the left arrow to the right until it reaches the first ‘swell’ on your graph. Move the right arrow in to the left until
it reaches the large ‘peak’ in the graph. You can adjust the middle arrow to the left and right to adjust the mid levels. Click OK when you
like what you see.

Scanned images often come through with dark edges and spots of dust from the glass of the scanned. You can get rid of these with the Eraser Tool
shown below. Make sure the two boxes on your tool bar are black at the top and white at the bottom (shown at the bottom of the picture below) by clicking
the tiny boxes above. 

Use the Eraser Tool to get rid of any dark areas and marks. 

You’ll need to make sure that your image is on the right size document for making a screen. Go to the top bar and click Image – Image Size to
check the size. This image is for an A4 screen so we need our document to be 21cm x 29.7cm. Set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch to make sure it’s
a high quality image. 

If your image is not the right size you can change it by cropping. Select the Cropping Tool from the side bar. Put your desired dimensions into
the Width and Height bars at the top and then drag your Cropping Tool over the image to resize it and press Enter. 

It’s best to create screen films from PDFs as the format ensures that everything stays the correct size as you want it. To save as a PDF go to File – Save As and
then select Photoshop PDF from the drop-down menu.

Getting Rid of Pencil Lines

If you have created your scan from an original drawing there may be sketch lines and pencil lines that you need to remove.

 

Firstly, use Levels to lighten the background and darken the image, as before, by going to Image – Adjustment – Levels and sliding the arrows left
and right. 

You can remove any left over pencil lines using the Dodge Tool you’ll find in your tool bar. The Dodge Tool, pictured below,
lightens up the background. At the top of the screen, set Range to ‘Highlights’ and Exposure to around 50%. Use the tool
to remove the pencil lines.

Once your designs look full black and white and are on the correct size document they are ready to be made into screen films to make your exposed screens.
Send your designs to us for Custom Exposed Screens or use them at home!

Hello, I’m Sophie Chadwick, senior textile designer and co-founder of Seasalt, a clothing, fabric and accessory retailer based in Cornwall.

Describe your design processes.

We start each collection (Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter) with a theme, which is always influenced by the people and places we love in Cornwall. The theme
then gets developed to create different mini collections/stories, one for each month of the year.

We do lots of research, create mood boards, and develop colour palettes for each mini collection. The garments, colours, prints, names, and locations for
the photo-shoots are all inspired by the season’s theme.

I create all of the print designs for Seasalt, along with a very talented designer called Kathryn Fowler. From these mood boards Kathryn and I start drawing,
painting, printing, using batik and collage; all these different media are used to create interesting marks and textures. Here I am drawing with hot
wax, using a tjanting.

Mark making and fine pen and ink drawings.

This work then gets scanned into the computer. This allows us to create the repeat of the design, to play with scale, and quickly see how the print will
look in different colour ways.

We produce approximately 350 prints per year. Once Kathryn and I have a sufficient quantity of designs, we work closely with all the garment designers
and buyers to allocate the prints to garments. This is done based on many criteria; sales history, fabric group and of course creative instinct!

Once allocated, we create a digital artwork, with pantone colour references (an industry standard for colour), which is then sent to the suppliers in India,
Sri Lanka, China and Turkey. They follow the artwork to cut screens and send us a ‘strike off’ on correct fabric base. We then check these to see that
the design, scale, repeat and colours are accurate, and send comments back to the mills if they are not. We have to make sure that all colours within
the prints match other garments within the collection, so that they are easy to outfit. Sometimes it can take up to 5 strike offs to achieve the perfect
print.

How and where did you learn printmaking?

I come from a family of artists; Mum was a florist, Auntie is a textile designer, and my Uncle taught at Camberwell School of Art. They all taught me so
much growing up. Ever since I could hold a pencil I haven’t stopped drawing, painting, printing and making! I did a one year Foundation in general
Art & Design at Falmouth School of Art, and then a degree in Textiles & Fashion at Winchester School of Art. I specialised in printed textiles.

Why printmaking?

I decided to specialise in printed textiles even though I really enjoyed weave and knit. I think that I am better with two-dimensional design and pattern,
and I must say that I found threading up the loom too labour intensive and technical! I have also always been so excited by print making, watching
my Uncle cut the most intricate lino prints from a very early age.

Here I am printing a lino block based on the traditional Working Boats of Falmouth. The design is called ‘Sunday Sail’ and has been used on pyjamas and
bed linen.

 

Here is another floral lino print, called ‘Lino Chrysanth’. On the left is the lino block, inked up and ready to print, and on the right is the final printed
bamboo jersey print. It is on a dress and a tunic and is featured in ‘A Story of a Print’ video on our website.

Lino and potato prints ready to create repeating designs.

Where do you work?

Most of the time I work with our design team at our studios in Falmouth, but some days I work from home. These are the days when I need to have some time
to think, and space to create things by hand and get messy, whether it’s potato printing, lino printing, painting or wax resist.

What inspires you?

We’re lucky to have so much inspiration on our doorstep; the dramatic landscapes of Cornwall, nature, our maritime heritage, traditional working boats
which race outside our window, art, sculpture and pottery.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

Potatoes! Some of my favourite Seasalt designs have been created from potato prints. I am slightly addicted to carving and printing with potatoes. I simply
love the process of doing it, and love the result achieved.

Here are two textile designs from our Spring Summer ’18 Collection that I created using potato prints. Trengrouse Top – Lemon Stamp Hay, and Pretty Printed
Scarf – Block Geo Seaglass.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I am currently working on prints for our Spring/Summer 2019 collection. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you what the theme is as we want it to be a surprise
for our customers, but it is connected to an artistic movement that I have loved since a child.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Marry wisely!…ideally to a man with a couple of shops that you can sell you stuff in!!!! Apart from that, just to keep making,….creating,….
doing! The world is a richer, more beautiful place as a result of people producing things by hand.

Keep up with Sophie Chadwick and Seasalt on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! 

 

We’re really excited to show you this new Japanese stamping kit that has just arrived. It contains everything you need to carve your own stamps and start
printing them! We couldn’t resist having a go ourselves so here’s a little tutorial on how to use our new Japanese Stamp Carving Kit. 

The kit contains a green carving block, knife, V Gouge carving tool, small flower shaped stamp, small heart shaped stamp, kneadable eraser for cleaning,
Versacraft small ink pad in Chocolate Brown, cutting mat, mini card frame, tracing paper and instructions all in a plastic case. The only other thing
you’ll need is a pencil and something to stamp on. You can boost your kit with more Versacraft Ink Pads to have lots of colours to choose from. You can print these on fabric too! 

Start with your drawing. A little smiley apple seemed appropriate! Use the tracing paper provided to trace over your design.

Turn your tracing paper face down on your craving block and rub all over the back with your finger to transfer the design. 

Roughly cut out around your stamp. You can use the knife provided or a craft knife. 

Use the knife provided in the kit to carve around the outside of your shape. Carve at an angle away from your shape all the way around. Use the pink cutting
mat included in the kit. The block is soft and very easy to cut. 

Turn your knife the the opposite angle and crave a little away from the edge to peel out the edges. This is like using a V tool one side at a time. 

When you have peeled away the outline, use your knife horizontally to cut off the rest of the unwanted green surface revealing the white underneath.

Use the V gouge to carve any fine detail.

Ink up your stamp using the Chocolate Versacraft Pad provided or any other colours that you have! Gently press the stamp pad onto the face up stamp. 

Press your inked up stamp onto your printing surface!

This kit also comes with two pre-cut stamp shapes for you to add your own details to.

I loved printing with this Japanese Stamp Carving Kit.
Everything you need is right there in the A5 sized kit ready to whip up more stamps for cards, labels, clothes, bags. You can keep topping up your
kit with more carving blocks and Versacraft pads!

 

I’m a full time printmaker living in Bristol. Originally from London; I trained as a ceramicist at Bath Spa University and I completed an MA in Multi Disciplinary
Printmaking at the University of the West of England in 2011. I predominantly work with Lino using the reduction method. I also teach Lino Printing
and Block Printing onto Fabric at the Bristol Folk House.

Describe your printmaking process.

I use a mixture of reduction lino print and mono print (using the rollers like paint brushes) to produce variable edition prints. I start by drawing directly
onto the lino with pencil, rubbing out and redrawing until I’m happy. Then I will carve away the first bit, which is normally the background. Then
I will stick my Lino down onto some board and making a registration frame around it. This assures the lino remains in the same place for each print.
For some of the layers I will only ink up sections of the block with multiple colours and do this for a number of layers to build up texture and tone.
Because you need to print the entire edition with the reduction method I usually print 20 or less and it can take several weeks to complete. I use
oil based inks on Japon Simili 100 gsm paper. 

How and where did you learn to print?

During my Ceramic degree there were opportunities to try different supporting subjects which printmaking was one, but it wasn’t very inspiring. During
a time of illness I did attend some evening classes to keep from going insane. A printmaking course which covered all methods was where I got into
printmaking. I joined Spike Print Studio and was mainly etching and screen printing. It was here that I was seeing what other printmakers were doing
with Lino that I just began trying it. It wasn’t until after my MA that I began using Lino as my preferred printing medium and I haven’t looked back
since.

Why printmaking?

I find it can be a calming thing to do. It’s very methodical, the carving of the Lino, to the building up of each layer and the repetitiveness of the inking
up/printing process which I find very pleasing.

Where do you work?

I have a studio space in Hamilton House, Bristol. It’s a multi use community centre in the
heart of the city. Home to over 200 creative and community lead businesses it is a great and inspiring place to work. However I don’t know how long
I will have this space as the building is currently under threat of redevelopment, which is worrying and stressful.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I don’t really have a typical day. It really depends on what time of year it is or if I have any events to prepare for. So apart from the designing and
making of my linocuts, I may have classes to prepare for, admin for exhibitions/events and posting off sales from my online outlets.

How long have you been printmaking?

For about 15 years, but I would say it’s only been the past couple of years that I have been completely happy with the work I’m producing.

What inspires you?

Plants, some would say I have too many. I would say you can never have enough. I have loads all over my studio and home. I’m drawn to their architectural
shapes and contours. It’s the wide range of leaf colour and pattern in these cacti, succulents and leafy plants which allow me to develop layers of
texture and tone within my linocuts.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

I really like using traditional lino,
the battleship grey stuff. I much prefer it over the easy cut and soft cut vinyls. This might make me sound weird but I like the smell of traditional
Lino and I personally find it nicer to carve into and to work with, it does what I want it to do.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I’m pretty pleased with how my Haworthia Fasciata Lino Print came out. At the time it was my largest Lino I’d attempted at A2 (I’m currently working on
an A1 block). The initial cut took several hours and took 3 months to complete.

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

I currently have an exhibition on at the Prema Arts Centre in Uley, Gloucestershire until 21^st October 2017.

My next event will be Made by Hand: The Contemporary Craft Fair at City Hall, Cardiff,
3^rd to 5^th November 2017.

I also have selected prints on show and for sale at the Craft Centre Leeds, The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle. I also sell online at Rise Art,
Wychwood Art Gallery and through my Folksy online shop.

What will we be seeing from you next? 

I’m currently working on a series of still lifes which include my love of plants with stripy mugs. I’m hoping to have them ready for Made by Hand in November. 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

I use oil based inks you and use vegetable oil to clean up with instead of white spirit. You don’t need much, and it’s much kinder to the Lino. To degrease
I have a water spray with added washing up liquid and this does the job. Oil is also good if you’re having trouble getting ink off your skin, rub in
then wash as normal. 

Keep up to date with Kerry Day’s work on her website, on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

.

 

Following Shirley’s visit to Japan earlier this year, we are expanding our Japanese Woodblock Printing and Relief Printing range! We’ve had great fun testing
out new products and have loved opening each parcel as it arrives from Japan with new stock. There are lots of new things now available on our website
(and more still on the way!) Read on to find out more about some of our new products from Japan: 

These Japanese Inking rollers are available in a hard or soft rubber.
They’re beautifully made and come in four sizes. We’ve been using one in our studio and absolutely love it!

Our new range of Japanese Woodblock Cutting Tools contains five types of tools in different sizes, all available to buy individually so you can build up
a set that’s perfect for you. Choose from V Gouges, U Gouges, Aisuki Chisels, Hangito Knives and a Kento Chisel.

Use these Japanese Water Brushes to keep your paper damp when woodblock printing. 

We’ve expanded our range of Japanese Inking Brushes with this 60mm brush.
Use with watercolours or gouache and nori paste for woodblock printing. Our new nori paste will be in stock soon!

We now have a choice of six barens to choose from for hand burnishing your relief prints including this new coiled bamboo baren. It’s traditional coiled internal structure makes it hardwearing and its large 13cm diameter enables you to
transfer pressure from your arm more effectively. Also in the shop are our two ball-bearing barens like this one below.

Possibly the most useful new items in our shop are these rubber ink scrapers. They clean up inking plates like a dream and wont leave scratches! If metal is more your style, try this new
50mm ink spatula:

Our Japanese vinyl is restocked and available in a new smaller 100 x 150mm size and the extremely popular HoSho paper pad is back!

Even more new stock is on it’s way so keep your eyes on the Japanese Woodblock and Relief Printing sections of the website! 

 

 

 

 

 

Sarah Campbell has been involved with colour and pattern for the whole of her life. Sarah will be joining us at Handprinted for a weekend of workshops in May 2018! 

The first fifty years of her career were spent working alongside her sister Susan Collier, starting with working for Liberty of London Prints in the ’60s.
In the late ’70s they founded the original Collier Campbell, the internationally influential design company. Their primary work was the inventing,
painting and commercial production of textile designs for apparel, furnishings, bedlinens, wallpapers for themselves and many other companies in the
UK and worldwide.

Since Susan’s death in 2011, Sarah has worked under her own name, painting designs on paper for production. She’s also developed other aspects of design
work – making and painting on many different surfaces, running workshops and courses, mounting exhibitions of work past and present, writing a blog,
developing her online shop….

Describe your process.

I paint, draw, write or make every day. I always keep a notebook for daily tasks and thoughts and write my tomorrow’s ‘to-do’ list every night before I
sleep so that my brain can process it. I tend to write in the front of the book and make sketches in the back. I work mainly on my own, and there are
a lot of different aspects to my work.

How and where did you learn to paint textiles?

I have only come to paint directly onto fabric in the last ten years or so; it’s been an extension of my long career as a painter of designs in repeat
on paper. I’m not sure why I started, but I very much enjoy the different processes. I taught myself, working on the kitchen table.

Why painted textiles?

Having been a fabric designer painting repeats on paper all my life, it seemed a natural progression.

Where do you work?

I work in my studio – a room in my flat.

 

What inspires you?

Everything and anything – from a flash of colour in the corner of my eye, to the new study of an old textile, to seeing a red bus against a green hedge
under a grey sky, to the slanting rain in a Hokusai print….

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I’m most proud of having made a life, and a living, in design and colour – and am still doing so!

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

Currently I work with WestElm and Michael Miller Fabrics in the US, and Magpie and Selvedge magazine here in the UK. All of this work can be seen online
and in their stores and outlets.

My own products are shown and for sale online in my own shop, and at The Fashion and Textile Museum in London.

And of course there’s a comprehensive overview of the first fifty years of our working life in the book ‘The Collier Campbell Archive; fifty years of passion
in colour’ by Emma Shackleton and myself.

What will we be seeing from you next?

A new collection for MichaelMillerFabrics will be coming early in 2018 with rather a different look… new work for WestElm includes some interesting ceramics….I’m
just starting a relationship with Renaissance Ribbons in the US….I continue to add to my own range at Sarah Campbell Designs….I’m working on new
furnishing fabrics for myself and others….and I’m increasing my reach as a teacher and talker.

Do you have any advice for other creatives?

Be brave, listen hard and follow your intuition.

Find out more about Sarah Campbell via the links below, or sign up to Sarah’s Exploring Patterns for Textiles Workshop, Painting Textiles Workshop or BOTH for a discount!

website: http://www.sarahcampbelldesigns.com

blog: https://sarahcampbelldesigns.wordpress.com

twitter: @SarahCamDesigns

instagram: @sarahcampbelldesigns

facebook Sarah Campbell Designs – SCLtd

Fashion and Textile Museum: http://www.ftmlondon.org

 

 

 

There is something really compelling about miniature objects. A miniature print sounds just too good to be true. Don’t worry about carving tiny detail
– this project will shrink it down for you!

Start with a sheet of Shrink Art Plastic – we’re using white. Cut out your desired shape with scissors or using a tag punch cutter like this one. Remember that your final piece will be about
seven times smaller than your starting shape so don’t cut too small too soon!

Draw around your shape onto a piece of Softcut. Draw your design inside.

Using a lino cutter, carve out your design. We are using the Speedball Lino Cutter Assortment which comes with five different blades. Use larger U cutters to carve out big areas…

…and fine V tools to carve out the small details. Cut your whole shape out with a scalpel.

Roll out a little water based block printing ink. Cranfield inks work perfectly here. This rainbow was made by blending together Cyan and Magenta with a roller. Make sure your layer of ink is thin enough for the roller to turn freely and make a zzzz sound – it should not look or
sound squelchy!

Roll your ink onto your block. 

Press your shrink plastic shape on top of your inked up block. Place the plastic rough side down. Press all over making sure to not miss any areas. 

Peel your plastic off to reveal your print! Leave for the ink to dry. 

If making a keyring or jewellery, you’ll need a hole to thread through. Our tag cutter punches holes but you could use a scalpel or hole punch. Remember
that your hole will shrink too!

Place your plastic flat on a tray in a pre-heated 180C oven. Watch as it shrinks, curls and twists! Take it out when it lays completely flat on the tray.
This should take about two minutes. As soon as it comes out, press it between two flat surfaces. We used two glass plates but a book and a table should
work just as well. If your plastic has cooked too much, pop it back in the over to make it pliable again. 

Take a look at our tiny tag compared to its original size! As well as shrinking in size, your shape will get much thicker and more rigid.

Our final keyring threaded up and ready to go:

To make you own mini keyring you will need:

• Sheet of Shrink Art Plastic
• Sheet of Softcut
• Lino cutter
• Pencil
• Tag cutter or scissors
• Water based printing ink
• Roller
• Inking tray
• Oven or heat gun
• Keyring fastening or string

Meet Hester Cox and book on to Hester’s Collagraph Workshop coming up at Handprinted in June!

Hello! I’m full time printmaker specialising in collagraph although I do experiment with monotype, photo-polymer and relief print when the mood takes me!
I live in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales National Park and I’m also a keen fell runner. Much of my inspiration comes from the landscape and wildlife
that I see whilst running. 

Describe your process:

Generally, I get my inspiration when I’m out running or walking so I might take a few photos for reference and then mull over the idea for a while before
I put pencil to paper. I sketch and play about with compositions, sometimes using a mirror to see what the plates will look like printed. I sketch
out the final design and transfer it to the plate using tracing paper then I start painting on textures using gesso, adhesives and pastes. Sometimes
I use collage materials such as textured papers or dried and pressed plants and I always use lots of cutting. When I’ve made my plate, I seal it using
a shellac varnish. If it’s a multi-coloured print, I make base plates that I roll up with ink and print as blocks of colour and these will have the
intaglio detail printed onto them. I’ve got two Rollaco etching presses, a bench model one and a portable press for workshops.

I dry my prints by taping the damp paper to a wooden board. As it dries the paper becomes beautifully flat and makes the print easy to frame. I usually
print my collagraphs in batches of five or six at a time so I will go back and repeat the whole process. It can take anything from 15 minutes to an
hour and half to ink and wipe one printing plate depending on the size and the complexity of the image. Then I clean everything using vegetable oil
and rags.

How and where did you learn to print?

I did a BA (hons) Illustration at Harrow School of Art and Design and they had a good print department but I didn’t fall I love with print until my final
year. I was doing a project on herbal medicine and was drawing and collecting medicinal plants. I wanted to use the plant material in the work but
didn’t know how. A friend of mine suggested collagraph and was kind enough to show me how to make a plate from the dried and pressed plant material
and I was hooked! When I graduated, I decided that I wanted to concentrate on printmaking. I moved north to Yorkshire to be with my partner and worked
in a shop for a year to save up for an etching press. I then got a better part-time job, which allowed me time to work on building up a portfolio of
prints. I’ve been a full time artist for the last 11 years. 

These days I’m a member of two studios, Ålgården Printmaking Workshops in Borås, Sweden and Northern Print in Newcastle. Working at these studios gives
me access to equipment that I don’t have in my own studio, time and space to experiment and the opportunity to work alongside other printmakers.

Why printing?

There is a lovely mix of careful planning and serendipity when you make collagraph prints. The plate making is a craft in its own right and you are
only limited by your imagination and what materials you can physically get through the press. You can also change the look of an image so much
when you are inking and wiping the plates. It involves a lot of methodical planning but the final ‘reveal’ is so exciting. You lift the paper from
the plate and there is always an element of wonder. There’s also something pleasing about seeing your work in duplicate.

 

Where do you work?

I live at Horton-in-Ribblesdale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and my studio is a lovely wooden building at the end of my garden. There is a
field beyond which often has lambs in it during spring and a view of Pen-y-ghent (one of the Yorkshire ‘Three Peaks’).

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I don’t really have a typical day, which is part of the attraction! My weeks can involve gallery deliveries, lots and lots of admin, teaching workshops,
framing, editioning existing plates or making new work. If I’m working all day in the studio, I’ll have breakfast then walk my dogs by the river
or through the meadows. This really helps to give me energy for the day. If its winter I’ll then light the stove in my studio or if its summer
I work with the door open and the sound of curlews and sheep. Like many artists, I listen to Radio 4 most of the day. Often I print well into the
evening and only stop for a run or to have dinner with my husband. If I’ve got deadlines looming, I’ll often go back in and work until late.

How long have you been printmaking?

23 years! I’ve been printmaking since 1994 and made the leap to being a full time professional artist in 2006.

What inspires you?

The natural world! My mum is a doctor of zoology and a retired ecologist so it is through her that I’ve developed my love of natural history. I’m
also a fellrunner and running is the perfect antidote to the solitary and sedentary life of an artist. When you run in the hills and in places
people rarely get to, you see all sorts of wonderful wildlife. I am inspired by how the look of the landscape alters with changes in the weather
and exhilarated when I glimpse a rare bird or animal. I want to share those often-overlooked details, the chance encounters or the transient
things that people soon forget.

What products do you use? What product/tool could you not be without?

I use lots of acrylic gesso and wood glue for making the plates. My favourite paper for collagraphs is Somerset Satin made by St. Cuthberts Mill.
I love my great big two-handled roller. I use it for creating graduated colour rolls on my base plates.  

I couldn’t live without my surgical scalpel. I use it for cutting into the mountboard (amongst many other things) and it is what I use to create
fine detail. I get through lots of 10A blades!

What have you made that you are most proud of?

My most recent work ‘Within These Walls’. This is a large-scale print installation that I made to be hung in a field barn for the Grassington Festival.
It has been the most challenging and difficult work that I’ve ever created and I’ve learned so much from it. It took six months to complete
and consists of five 4-metre long printed voile hangings inspired by the upland meadows including an huge collagraph created by printing four
1-metre long plates in succession on an enormous etching press. I designed that part to be a cross-section through a bit of meadow reminiscent
of when, as a child, I used to lay in the grass looking at the flowers and insects. At times it kept me awake at night worrying about the logistics
and whether I’d finish it on time but it was all worth it in the end. Seeing the finished work installed from the beams of the barn as a light
breeze moved the fabric and swallows flew in between was really magical.

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

I sell at various galleries across the country and they are listed on my website but one of my favourites is Masham Gallery. Josie Beszant is the
owner and also an artist. She was the first gallery to permanently stock my work twenty-two years ago and we’ve become good friends. We are
currently collaborating with ceramicist Charlotte Morrison on an on-going project called Collections. We are all avid collectors and we explore
the idea of collecting and collections through our work. We’ve just has a successful exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery. I also do one-off
exhibitions at various venues, art fairs, print fairs and I sell work through my website although it is via the contact form and not ‘click
and buy’ as I print in batches and need to make sure I’ve got one available.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I will continue to work on Collections with Charlotte and Josie and I am hoping to develop ‘Within These Walls’ creating large-scale collagraphs
and monotypes on paper so that I will have a supporting exhibition to accompany the installation. I’ll also continue to make new collagraphs
inspired by the natural landscape.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Its hard graft to make a living as a full time artist but don’t give up! Work hard, believe in yourself, make the best work that you can and keep
on developing your techniques.

See more of Hester Cox’s work on her website or on www.artistscollections.org. Follow Hester on Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter for updates!

Book onto Hester Cox’s Collagraph Workshop coming up at Handprinted!