Exploring Collagraphs

Explore the incredible versatility of card, tapes, adhesives and texture in this exciting ten-week Collagraph printing course.

Each week you will experiment with lots of inspiring ways to create a collagraph plate, from simple layered card plates and working on recycled packaging to creating texture through sgraffito techniques and found materials.

During the course you will:

·         Learn about collagraphs and the differences between relief and intaglio processes.

·         Understand how to create a Collagraph plate with a variety of textures, pastes, tapes and papers to achieve incredible results.

·         Learn how to print a collagraph plate using the printing press.

·         Produce a series of prints to take home.

Week One

Through discussion and demonstration you will create relief collagraphs using firstly just card and different types of tapes, then go on to explore textured materials, with one-to-one support, using everyday objects/textures and wallpapers. Learn how to ink up a relief collagraph experiment with how to take a print.

Week Two

Explore using recycled packaging to create an intaglio plate, using the shape of the template to inform your design. Experiment with sgraffito, using etching needles, embossing tools, and craft knives to scratch into the surface and removing layers. Learn the differences between a relief and intaglio print and explore how to ink up an intaglio plate and use the printing press.

Weeks Three and Four

Develop your knowledge through exploring the impact of using porous and non-porous areas in your plates. Experiment with glue, sand, texture pastes and carborundum to create plates and learn how to seal plates and prepare paper for intaglio printmaking.

Week Five

Explore blind printing and embossing using textured plates. Experiment with hand colouring prints and investigate using clean plates and inked up plates together to create more complex prints.

Week Six

Focus on creating richness and depth in a print and experiment with colour and application techniques to achieve an atmospheric print.

Weeks Seven and Eight

Develop your designs and experiment with printing your plates, exploring techniques and honing skills to ink up and wipe down plates. Learn about ghost printing and test it using multiple plates in your prints.

Weeks Nine and Ten

Through one-to one support, develop designs/ideas through analysing your earlier plates and prints and plan your final prints. Create plates using a combination of techniques learnt, experimenting with colour, wiping techniques and paper thickness to create original, atmospheric prints.

Tutor Jo Shearer is an artist and art educator living and working in Leicestershire. Her belief is that art is for everyone. It is another language for expressing and communicating our experiences, thoughts and emotions which often reflect the world around us and how we fit into it. Art can demonstrate a tremendous level of skill and be aesthetically pleasing; however, the greatest strength is in its capacity to express and unite people. Jo studied Visual BA (Hons) Arts and English Literature and a PGCE in secondary art. She taught in schools and colleges in Hertfordshire and Leicestershire for over 10 years. After leaving mainstream education she continued her love of teaching through tutoring and went on to develop workshops like this one. She enjoys the freedom to work in a variety of media and has an ever-increasing love for print. She enjoys nurturing creativity and developing individuals' skills to build confidence in their own work as well as evoking a sense of calm and release of emotions through the process of making. Her personal work explores the spaces that we inhabit, the collection of experiences and emotions that connect us to a place and the inherent beauty of the natural world in all its forms.

This is a 10-week course starting on Wednesday 5 March and ending on 14 May 2025.

All materials and equipment will be provided. Please dress in old clothes and/or bring an apron as printing can get messy!

Participants must be aged 16+. Under 18s must be accompanied by a paying adult at all times.

Please ensure that you agree to our updated Terms & Conditions before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable in some circumstances.

We aim to make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome – just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you'd like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email arts-centre@le.ac.uk, pop in or call 0116 252 2455, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.

Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road. The closest public car park for parking at all other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us (near De Montfort Hall).