Printmaking Supplies

[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1602865522631{padding-bottom: 20px !important;}”][vc_column][spacer height=”10px”][spacer height=”10px”][title align=”center” color=”#0f0f0f”]PRINTMAKING SUPPLIES[/title][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row fullwidth=”yes” bg_type=”bg_image” top_margin=”0″ bottom_margin=”40″ image_url=”5025″ css=”.vc_custom_1595759128327{margin-top: -50px !important;margin-bottom: 60px !important;padding-top: 100px !important;}” el_class=”light-style” background_color=”#ffffff”][vc_column css=”.vc_custom_1444934963832{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][spacer height=”10px”][spacer height=”10px”][vc_column_text]The links take you to UK suppliers. If you are having difficulty getting anything, try any of the following suppliers…

Jacksons

Intaglio Printmakers

Lawrences

Artsavers 

Handprinted    

 

A press with a bed and blanket.

 

As well as a regular etching press I use a Sizzix Big Shot Plus and an Xcut Xpress. The bed is a cut down 12mm high catering board to 21.5 cm x 60cm. The Sizzix requires a deeper bed so I use one or two 3mm thick pieces of hardboard depending on the thickness of my plate. These don’t have to be as long as your bed, but a minimum of 40cm.

Handprinted sell a kit for the Xcut which will also fit the Sizzix but you will still need hardboard or similar.

Blanket can be dense felt or specialist etching blanket  I use a 3mm ‘cushion blanket’ of compressed felt

 

Papers and Tapes

  • Paper: I use watercolour paper 220gm from Any paper that’s a similar weight, or heavier, will be fine.
  • For better quality I use Fabriano Rosapina and Khadi paper 320gm which comes in a range of shapes and sizes
  • Tracing paper (one A4 sheet)
  • Copy or drawing paper 90gm +
  • Newsprint (you can buy it as loose sheets or a pad) A3 or A4
  • Blotting paper or smooth absorbent fabric
  • Paper for chine colle; I use Wet Strength tissue that I paint with acrylic inks. Found papers such as book pages or sheet music, or origami papers are good too. The only rule is they must be thin
  • Aluminium Foil tape 10cm wide (also called insulation foil tape) I use 3M or Mammoth
  • Textures; look around the house for any cards with texture, thin fabrics etc Nothing super thick!
  • Masking tape
  • Sand paper
  • Any other tapes that you find interesting ..copper tape etc

 

 

Inking/Cleaning/Cutting

  • Scrim (Tartalan) or Akua Wiping Cloth or soft cloths such as sheeting or smooth tea-towels, or sew-in interlining fabric (not iron on!)
  • Tissue paper or telephone directory paper for wiping plates.
  • Babywipes,
  • Talc
  • A soft toothbrush ( I buy a kids pack of 5 from poundland).
  • A spreader; this can be card, or an old credit card, rubber spreader, silicone spreader….
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Scalpel
  • A tool for DRYPOINT an etching tool, this can also be a nail or an engineers scribe
  • Palette knife
  • Cutting mat
  • Old store catalogue
  • Squeezy bottles 30ml
  • Needle tip bottles 10ml

 

Printing Ink;

  • I use Akua intaglio in carbon black, another good brand is Caligo Etching ink.
  • COLOURS! AKUA make a starter pack with a range of colours and mediums
  • Its possible to use oil paint but it will need mixing with Schminke Intaglio Printing Medium. Alternatively any oil based etching ink will be fine but you will need solvents to clean up. You can use relief inks like Caligo Relief Ink but you MUST clean them off the plate thoroughly or they dry in all your lovely textures!

 

Making Plates

  • I use mount card/mat board for making plate (as well as full sheets I buy boxes of off cuts from a framers) You can use any type of card but make sure you have at least one piece of mountcard as its built in layers and one plate we make will be cutting into these layers. Other board and surfaces such as greyboard will work fine, even metal! The idea being they are stable, not too floppy, and not more then a couple of mm thick.
  • Perspex/polypropelene basically a 0.5-2mm thick plastic that can be scratched and scored, and/or Mirror Card and/or Enviromount
  • Silk Organza a fine weave fabric about 95gm. Thus can be glued down with Gloss Medium but I prefer to use Frisks Punch Peel & Stick or either heat or pressure photo mount film

 

WET MEDIA (mediums pastes and gels etc)

I recommend as a minimum you buy a product that will print light, one mid value and one dark. In addition consider the viscosity of the products you buy; a range of thin to thick will give you greater variety. As you can see I favour GOLDEN. I am a trained educator for them, they do not pay me and I don’t have to promote them, but they do send me stuff!  However, I use them as I know they won’t stick to my paper as the polymers are very strong. But there are plenty of other brands, don’t buy super cheap though, it can be a waste of time. A few top quality products will be better than a lot of cheap ones.

 

As a MINIMUM kit I would recommend one of the following options…

 

  • GOLDEN Gloss Medium or a good GLOSS varnish +PVA
  • GOLDEN Heavy Body Acrylic (white)
  • GOLDEN Heavy Gel GLOSS
  • GOLDEN Micaceous Iron Oxide (fluid or Heavy Body) OR Akua Carborundum Gel OR Fine Carborundum powder
  • Any brand ready mixed Ceramic Tile Adhesive either marked as waterproof or water resistant

 

OR

 

  • GOLDEN Gloss Medium or a good GLOSS varnish +PVA
  • The GOLDEN Acrylic Pastes and Gels set
  • GOLDEN Micaceous Iron Oxide (fluid or Heavy Body) OR Akua Carborundum Gel OR Fine Carborundum powder
  • Any brand of ready mixed Ceramic Tile Adhesive either marked as waterproof or water resistant

 

 

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I like Akua Intaglio as its the perfect consistency, and it lasts for YEARS as you get no waste from skinning etc.

They make a nice set HERE I suggest if you are starting out and want more that one or two colours buy the set.

Akua transparent medium 

Caligo Safe Wash Etching ink is good but you will need to loosen it with some oil..veg oil is fine. Buy the TUBES not the tubs as they skin over!
Caligo extender make sit more transparent

[/vc_column_text][spacer height=”10px”][title align=”center” animation=”top-to-bottom” color=”#300b27″]READING LIST[/title][spacer height=”10px”][vc_column_text]READING LIST for collagraphy etc

Making Collagraph Prints Paperback

by Suzie MacKenzie   BUY HERE

 

Collagraphs and Mixed-Media Printmaking (Printmaking Handbooks)

by Brenda Hartill and Richard Clarke  BUY HERE

 

Collagraph Printmaking by Mary Ann Wenniger

 

Collagraph Printmaking by Donald Stoltenberg

Complete Printmaker Paperback – Illustrated, 31 July 2008

by John Ros HERE

 

Intaglio: The Complete Safety-First System for Creative Printmaking: Acrylic-Resist Etching, Collagraphy, Engraving, Drypoint, Mezzotint Paperback – 15 Feb. 2010

by Robert Adam  (Author), Carol Robertson  (Author)  BUY HERE

 

Intaglio Printmaking (Printmaking Handbooks) Paperback – 31 Mar. 2008

by Mychael Barratt (Author) BUY HERE

 

 

 

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