courses + workshops

This workshop provides a thorough introduction to monotype printmaking. Often referred to as the "painterly" print, this direct method can involve a variety of mediums and collage techniques. The workshop will provide techniques for using both oil and water-based inks. Contemporary techniques such as hand-pressing, trace printing, xerox transfer, and collage will also be explored. Students are encouraged to bring a variety of materials for creating textures, stencils and embossments. Printmaking papers such as Stonehenge, Arches, Rives, and Japanese Rice papers are recommended.

This intensive workshop provides a basic introduction to all aspects of water-based screen-printing. The workshop will cover coating the screen with emulsion, exposing the image onto the screen and printing in addition to direct drawing on the screen and stencil printing methods. As a lot of information will be packed into each session students are encouraged to attend multiple evenings to gain more familiarity and practice with the processes. For those only needing to get acquainted with Malaspina’s new screen-printing equipment, one evening session will be enough time to get you printing on your own!

 This course provides a thorough introduction to traditional copperplate etching. You will Learn how to draw onto copper plates using hard ground, soft ground and sugar lift as well as the principals of intaglio printing and safe studio practice. You will make four or five small plates in this class. You will also learn how to print your etchings onto rag and chine colle paper. This course is suitable for those with no prior experience in printmaking or for those looking to refresh their etching skills.

This course provides a thorough introduction to collograph printmaking. A collograph is a collaged plate in which the surface is built up using a variety of mediums. Collographs can achieve dramatic tonal effects and vibrant colours due to the depth of relief and differential inking that results from the collograph plate's highly textured surface. This 4-day workshop will cover building a collograph plate, inking techniques such as relief, intaglio and viscosity, and creating prints using multiple plates and colours.

This workshop will introduce you to intermediate etching techniques. A focus of the workshop will be etching processes that allow you to make a range of tonal variations with your plates. You will learn how to use the rosin box and hotplate to produce aquatints. You will learn the sugar lift process that allows you to etch any shape that you paint directly onto your plate with a sugar solution. Experimentation with spite biting, a process that allows you to “paint” acids directly onto your plate to create soft and watery tones in your images, will also be included in the course. Previous intaglio printing experience is an asset in this course as you should be familiar with steps involved with preparing copper plates for etching including degreasing, handling ferric chloride and printing your plates. 

This workshop will introduce you to developing and enlarging black and white photographs in Malaspina’s darkroom. You will learn how to expose and develop your own negatives and print your pictures onto photo paper. You will also experiment with pinhole photography, photo-grams and other darkroom techniques. If you do have your own SLR camera please bring it, some cameras will be available to use. No previous experience is necessary for this course.