The satisfyingly fuzzy printed lines of a monotype are usually reserved for prints on paper. However, using the method below you can create prints onto fabric with the same texture and line quality, making fast and spontaneous fabric designs to sew up into bags, quilts, or whatever you fancy.  Fabric Screen Printing Ink is ideal for this technique - it has a soft handle, can be heat set on fabric with an iron, and will stay wet long enough to take a print. Begin by rolling ink onto a plastic or glass sheet. Use a Textile Roller - a standard roller will slip in the ink. Drypoint plastic makes a great monotype plate.  Gently lay your fabric on top - don't press it down! It's important the fabric gets minimal contact with the ink.  Place a piece of paper on top and draw your design. You can also trace an image if you would prefer not to draw freehand. Don't touch the fabric - hold the paper at the edge if you need to. Use the pencil quite upright and press fairly firmly for best results.  Peel off the fabric to reveal the print. When your prints are dry, iron them on the hottest setting that the fabric will allow until the fabric feels too hot to comfortably touch. This will set the ink and make the fabric washable.  Watch the whole process below: You will need: Plastic or glass plate - drypoint plastic or an inking plate work well Textile Roller Screen Printing Ink for Fabric like Versatex, Permaset or Speedball Fabric to print onto - poplin is ideal Paper Pencil Iron

I’m Alex Williams, a printmaker and illustrator based in Somerset. I mainly make linocut prints in bright and bold colours - I very rarely use any black ink! I also create illustrations, murals and bespoke window paintings and run printmaking workshops for adults and children. Describe your printmaking process. I generally start with sketches, drawn largely from life but I also love browsing antique and auction catalogues and the V&A website on the look out for interesting patterns and shapes. I use a range of lino techniques, often the ‘jigsaw’ method but also sometimes cutting multiple blocks or reduction so I think about what I want from the finished piece before deciding which process to use. I then transfer the image to the lino very simply with tracing paper often leaving out much of the detail and then just go for it. I like things to look perfect but not too perfect.   How and where did you learn to print? My degree was in fine art and we had an amazing print studio at the School of Art. I dabbled in lots of different printmaking methods from etching and drypoint to screen printing, but I don’t remember exploring much relief printing. I still use some of the Japanese woodcutting tools I got in my first year there about 20 years ago though, so we must have done some! A few years ago, I made some mini linocut prints to give as wedding favours for my sister’s wedding as we thought it would be a good way to make lots of mini artworks and from then on I’ve been hooked. I’ve taught myself a lot and am always learning and trying out different things. Why printmaking? I love the puzzle, the layering, the problem solving and the multi- step processes involved. The “no going back”-ness and the flatness of the colour you can create. I love that I can print an edition and then move onto the next thing. I also love how accessible it is - both for printmakers; requiring little to no specialist equipment - and also for people wanting some original art in their homes. Where do you work? My ‘studio’ is a corner of our spare room on the top floor where I’ve filled various surfaces with piles of paper, books and art supplies. It’s boiling in summer and freezing in the winter. Luckily for linoprinting you don’t need a lot of space. However, when people come to stay they might have to duck under a string of drying prints to get to the bed. My set up is very homemade - a big piece of mdf plonked on top of a chest of drawers is my printing table and a clothes airer donated by a neighbour with some bulldog clips on it serves as a drying rack - but it works for me. Describe a typical day in your studio. I’ve only recently been able to spend much time in my studio regularly as we have two small children. I try and plan beforehand what I want to get out of my available time as it’s sometimes only a couple of hours - be that planning new pieces, carving or spending a big chunk of time printing - that’s the one that’s harder to dip in and out of so I try to make sure I can do that on days when everyone is at school/nursery. How long have you been printmaking? I had been dipping in and out of making in different forms - sometimes making linocuts or screenprints - since I left university nearly twenty years ago.  Whilst working as a teacher and later for the NHS, I always had creative projects on the go but I’ve been consistently printmaking for about the last three years. Working from home after lockdown allowed me more time to explore my practice and begin to make it the main part of my life and last year I was able to go fully freelance which I’m really enjoying. What inspires you? My work is all about colour and pattern and I'm inspired by all sorts of things from the kitchen shelves to museum displays, auction catalogues, vintage fabrics and beautiful flowers. It has a hint of history or nostalgia about it but with colours maximised, and distillation of form and pattern. What is your favourite printmaking product? I really like using the Caligo Safewash inks, although I also use Schmincke water based inks a lot too as they dry so quickly. I love the range of printmaking papers from Handprinted - I get through a lot of the Kent paper. I also have a big Woodzilla-type press that I found in a junk shop for a fiver - they didn’t know what it was - I couldn’t believe my luck! Plus I have a lovely small Pfeil gouge which I wouldn’t be without now, I’d like the whole set! What have you made that you are most proud of? I’m most proud of sustaining my practice and having got to a stage where I’m making work that I like and am able to make a living from it. When I left university I didn’t really have any idea how to do that or the confidence to just go for it. It’s only now with the benefit of age that I care much less what people think and am more prepared to ask about things I’d like to do and create opportunities for myself. I’m also very proud of a really nice reduction print of a patterned vase I did - the registration was so perfect - it takes a trained eye to really appreciate that though! Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? I sell from my website and I stock my prints and cards in several galleries and nice shops championing handmade products. I’m also a regular at my local Independent Market in Taunton as they have a monthly Arts market, it’s always so lovely to meet the people who are buying your work. What will we be seeing from you next? There are so many ideas I’m desperate to get started on, but the next things I want to work on are a series of larger reduction prints of ceramic figurines - I find them so amusing. I’m also building up my workshop programme for the rest of the year as I’ve been enjoying teaching so much. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?  I think my main piece of advice is not to overthink things, care less about what other people think and just keep making/drawing for yourself. You will find the strands that link everything that you do and find your own unique style that brings you joy. I spent a long time thinking my work wasn’t good enough because it didn’t have an overt political ‘message’ or deep philosophical meaning, but I now realise that making colourful prints in the way that I do, often of things that may seem quite quotidian, appeals to people quite deeply, and brings a lot of joy and that’s just as valid. To see more of Alex, follow her on Instagram! Image credit Becky Tea Photography

Speedy Carve Blocks are delicious to cut and a joy to print. We have featured them many times in our blog, but this time we have created a process with a three-layered print. For a layered print like this, it's helpful to start with a drawing. Map out the colours to plan their placement. When using the three process colours, we will have magenta, cyan, yellow, orange, green and purple available. You could also have brown, where all 3 colours overlap. Scan the drawing and create a black and white line drawing, or trace it. We have reduced the scale of the drawing on Photoshop and fit three birds in a space to fit our Speedy Carve block. Print the design through a laser printer or photocopier (an inkjet printer won't work for this transfer method but you could use with carbon paper to transfer the design instead).  To transfer the design, place the laser printed design face down on the block. Use an iron for a couple of seconds on the back of the paper. This method only works on synthetic lino and blocks. Be careful not to iron for too long or the block can start to melt! It works very quickly.  Mark out your stamps - C, M and Y for cyan, magenta and yellow (or B, R, Y if you prefer.) Use your original drawing to help you choose the right areas to carve. The Cyan stamp (blue) - carve away any areas that you want to be yellow, magenta or orange. The Magenta stamp (red) - carve away any areas that you want to be blue, yellow or green. The Yellow stamp - carve any areas that you want to be blue, magenta or purple. This can be a bit confusing so carve slowly! You can also draw this out onto your block if that makes it easier.  When the design is carved, cut the stamps out with a scalpel. It's important that it's easy to see where to place these stamps, so try to keep the general shape of them the same. This one has the same main body and tail shape, so we can place them on top of one another as accurately as possible. We are printing using the Speedball Block Printing Inks in Process Colours. These are water-based inks so will dry quickly - perfect for multi-layer printing. Roll out a small amount of each colour and apply it to the block in light layers. Start with blue or magenta, as they will be the strongest colours and therefore more likely to cover up the yellow too much if applied on top. Stamp the block onto paper. Ink up the next colour block and stamp on top of the first layer, using the shape of the stamp to help line it up. The blue and magenta should overlap to make purple. Repeat with the yellow block.  For this project you will need: Speedy Carve Block Speedball Block Printing Ink in Process Yellow, Process Cyan and Process Magenta Laser printed photocopy x 3 (or carbon paper) Inking plate or tray Rollers like this one Paper to print onto Here are some links for other inspirational ways to use Speedy Carve:  Printing onto Fabric using Speedy Carve and Screen Printing Inks. Creating a portrait stamp. Using Extender to create graduated tones. The Endless Possibilities of a Square Block Repeat.

When we first heard the news that Tetra Pak cartons could be used for printmaking, we were excited to try it out. We started to collect all the cartons we had at home and got ready to put them to a new use in the studio. Here’s a little project to get started using Tetra Pak cartons to make intaglio printed drypoints and collagraphs! The insides of cartons vary a little. When we cut them open we found some to be foil coated and some plastic coated. We’ve tested both types to see if they both worked well. Thoroughly rinse out your carton and open it out flat. Wipe clean again and cut it into printing plate sized pieces. You could cut out each panel separately to avoid the creases or cut pieces that incorporate all the creases to add interest to your prints. We will be using the plain, inside surface of the carton. To transfer a drawing, draw your design onto tracing paper using a soft pencil, flip it and scribble on the back to transfer it to your plate. Don’t press too hard or you could dent the plate. Use an etching needle to score into the board. Here we are creating lines that will hold ink to be printed intaglio, like a drypoint plate. Use a scalpel to score the surface of the card. Gently peel off the top layer to reveal the rough card layer underneath. This rough layer will hold on to more ink and print a dark area, like a collagraph plate. This foil lined carton reveals brown card underneath. The white cartons reveal white card underneath. These plates feel a little less sturdy but can still be carved and scored into. Before inking your plate, soak your paper in a tray of water. We are using Snowdon – a 300gsm general purpose paper that prints beautifully when soaked. To print a plate using the intaglio method, we apply ink to the plate and then wipe excess off until the ink is only in the lines and areas we want to print. We’re using Akua inks –  soy based, water washable intaglio inks. Apply ink to the surface of the plate using a rag in dabbing motions or with a soft toothbrush. Using a piece of mount board or card, push the ink into the lines on the plate. Work the ink in several directions. This process will also help to remove any excess ink from the surface of the plate. Next, use a small wad of scrim in a twisting motion to further work the ink into the lines and clean the plate surface.   Pinch a piece of tissue between your forefinger and middle finger and, holding the tissue flat, rub the plate to polish the surface. To clean up the plate even further, use a piece of soft cloth. Be careful not to wipe any ink from areas that you want to print. Finally (I promise), use a cotton bud to shine up any areas that you want to print completely white. To print your plate, remove your paper from the water tray and blot off excess water with blotting paper or a clean cloth. The paper should feel damp but not too wet. Put your flat facing up on the bed of an etching press and your paper on top. Our final print has lovely texture from the crumples and folds of the carton. The cartons that were not foil lined printed beautifully too. To make your own Tetra Pak print you will need: A tetra pak carton Scissors Tracing paper Pencil Etching needle Scalpel Inking plate or glass slab Akua ink Toothbrush or rag for applying ink A piece of mount board or stiff card Scrim Tissue paper Rags for wiping Cotton buds for wiping Tray for dampening paper Paper to print on Etching press