Mandy Hills - screen printing, mixed media, collage

'Intro to Screen Printing' in the Bluecoat

Course sessions: 4th / 11th / 18th / 25th September 2014
Thursday evenings 6-9pm

You don’t need to bring any materials to the sessions as paint (water based acrylic), paper, screens, aprons and cleaning materials are all provided, it’s just bring yourself.

If you have done a bit of printing in the past but feel a bit rusty then this could be a good refresher. If you've never stepped inside a print room it's ok too! It’s a really friendly atmosphere and I’ll be covering all the basics with technical advice throughout each evening.

If you have anything in particular you would like to print or ideas you would like to discuss then we can chat about that on the first session – it’s as much about what you’d like to learn too! You can be as creative and experimental as you wish… and ask any questions along the way.

One of the aims is to enable you to feel confident enough to book the studio to use on your own after the completion of the course.

Here’s a basic overview of the four sessions:

Wk 1 - Printing with Paper cut stencils

Short Health and Safety talk with Fran
Overview of the studio / look at the printing beds and different areas in the print room
Quick stencil demo from me – Design and cut out your stencils
Getting messy with the ink! Print your work! Getting used to pulling prints, Print, Print and more prints!
How to clean up

Wk 2 – How to make a one colour photo stencil print

Discussing acetates / drawings
How to prep your screen / photo emulsion
Using the exposure unit safely / exposing your image
Printing your work
Stripping and cleaning the screens / using the pressure hose / cleaning up

Wk3 – How to make a two colour photo stencil print

Practicing method above
Overprints (using different colours to create new colours / backgrounds)
How layers work
Combining paper stencils & photo stencils
Print, Print and more prints!

Wk 4 –Your work

You’ll have the opportunity to create prints using techniques from previous weeks, experiment using different papers / ink opacities. Get used to using the equipment and printing without me hovering by you - I am there if you need me though :)

If you would like to book a place then please call the Bluecoat ticket and Information line on 0151 702 5324 or email: info@thebluecoat.org.uk