A long overdue update...

It's been so long since our last update there are too many things to mention! We have had some fantastic artists in to run workshops, including Catherine Sutcliffe-Fuller to run the 'Working with Lino' course, and Mark Graver who ran the 'Acrylic-Resist Etching' weekend, along with all the regular courses, Children's workshops, HOST weekend, and the general comings and goings of open-access. It's been busy!

I have also been researching platen presses for the workshop, and can now finally reveal that WYPW has purchased one! It is an old Cope and Sherwin Imperial Press, currently in the process of being re-conditioned by the fantastic Harry f. Rochat Ltd , and should be installed in the downstairs print room by the end of the year. It's very exciting and will bring a whole new area of printmaking to WYPW, as during the summer we also purchased some letterpress equipment, so look out for a new 'Introduction to Letterpress' course here in the New Year!

So here are a few images from my travels and some of the excellent workshops which have run here in the last few months...

Acrylic-Resist Etching with Mark Graver

 


Mark Graver demonstrating inking a plate

   

Pouring the acrylic ground over the aluminium plate



painting ink onto the grounded plate



Etching the plate in Copper Sulphate solution 



The surface of an etched plate

 

Once the soft resist is applied it is worked on by wiping back to reveal the metal underneath



Etching Weekend with Kate Desforges



Wiping a copper etching plate before printing




A printed open-bite aluminium plate

 

Printing the etching plates




Open-bite etching plates printed with colour rollovers

 


Soft ground etching  on zinc with colour rollover

 

Soft ground etching on zinc



Hard ground and soft ground etchings on copper



Open-bite etching on aluminium



Trip to Scalby to Bracken Press to see printmaker Michael Atkin

A few months back I went to see Michael Atkin to find out a bit more about relief presses and have a go at using his large Albion press. His studio is amazing and filled with printmaking equipment. It was the first time I had used a relief press, and I was surprised to find that the process was so much quicker and easier than using an etching press. Michael was a wealth of knowledge about all things print-related, and the visit helped me enormously in deciding what sort of press to buy for WYPW, so thank you Michael!