Hi, I’m Ian Phillips, a printmaker based in Mid Wales. I’m originally from Leicestershire and studied illustration at Leicester Polytechnic. After graduation I attempted the life of a freelance Illustrator in London, but quite quickly, well after a few years, realised it wasn’t right me for me. Or more accurately I wasn’t right for it. I then tried a range of occupations from Postman to Pub landlord until the turn of the millennium encouraged fresh starts. So I moved to Machynlleth in Wales. There I re-established my interest in relief printmaking and finally gave up completely on the idea of illustration, or anything else, as a career. Instead I began to wander the beautiful landscape of Wales for my subject matter, my inspiration and my peace of mind. I’ve been there ever since and couldn’t imagine doing any other subject matter with any other process. Describe your printmaking process

 Well it would previously have been a simple description of the linocut reduction process, with the occasional multi block now and then. Now, however, the process is a bit more involved. I’ll begin with a walking trip along a specific area or long distance footpath and fill a sketchbook with drawings and notes. I then like to produce the work in the same chronological order as the work is produced so I start at the beginning of the sketchbook. This sketch is then enlarged to the specific size of the woodblock I’m working on. 450mm x 600mm for example. The tracing then has a thin Japanese tissue (usually about 10-18gsm) stuck down over it and the original drawing is traced/redrawn using a Chinese brush and ink. The aim is to recapture the energy and spontaneity I felt doing the original drawing, which can be lost during the tracing and transferring process. Once dry this will be glued, face down of course, onto a block with rice paste glue. This is the key block and will be cut to give a line drawing of  the final print. Then everything but the inked lines of the drawings are cut away.  After a quick clean to remove the remaining tissue paper this block is printed onto more woodblocks.
All of these blocks will then be cut depending on which area/colour of the image they’ll print. Then the playing with inks start, proofing different colours and tones to decide how the final print will look. This is the point at which the new secret method of Tabi Hanga is deployed. Once I am happy with decisions made during proofing. I’ll print the whole edition.  How and where did you learn to print? I did a degree in Graphic design and Illustration, at Leicester Polytechnic, and did a printmaking module in my final year. Though I enjoyed it, it didn’t really grab me as much as you’d expect looking at my later career path. Once I’d left college and started working as a freelance Illustrator I started experimenting with print more and more. Eventually becoming completely obsessed. I’ve had no formal printmaking education, but learnt everything by deciding what I wanted from a picture then trying to work out how I could achieve a result I was happy with.  The only formal lesson I’ve had have been a 2017 trip to The Purple Bamboo Studio in Hanzhou China, for two weeks with Pine Feroda, to learn Water Woodblock. Which was a fantastic experience and did change the way I produce my work. Then more recently in 2023 a rather enjoyable Collagraph weekend with Charles Shearer at our very own Handprinted studio. Other than that I learnt a great deal of the technique and process of woodblock printing working with the other members of the Pine Feroda collective over our ten year period. Why printmaking?  What’s that saying; “For those that know, no explanation is necessary, for those that don’t, no explanation will suffice. “ If that’s too trite, it’s just brilliant. It’s art and craft together. It’s mixing colours and playing with sharp tools, it’s traditional and modern, set about with technical limitations and yet somehow endlessly flexible. Frustrating and fabulous and you’ll never master it completely, so you have an absorbing task to try and get better at for as long as you want to put the work in.  Where do you work?

 I am very lucky to have a wonderful studio on the top floor of a building in Tywyn, on the coast of Mid Wales all to myself. It has all the things a good studio should have. Huge floor to ceiling north facing windows, South facing ceiling velux, worn wooden floors, and loads of space and a beautiful press. Oh and did I mention it’s above a cafe and Tapas bar? Describe a typical day in your studio Like most self employed artists, there isn’t really a ‘typical’ day. Though I tend to come to the studio Mon- Friday it really depends on what I have on. I could be printing, doing admin, framing work. A better question would be what is my ‘preferred’ type of day. Which is, of course, to spend the whole day lost in the carving of a block, or equally preferential is sitting on the side of a mountain, drawing the view, and eating a nice sandwich.   How long have you been printmaking?  I started using a rough form of printmaking in my Illustrations, once I’d left College, when I was about 22. So lets say over 30 years and leave it there. What inspires you? Outside. The landscape, pure and simple. The colours, the shapes, the light, the forms, the patterns, the textures and then how they all interact and balance and contrast with one other.  What is your favourite printmaking product? Bit of a cheat answer as it’s not a thing but a collection of ‘things’ that allows my favourite process. So my current favourite(s) are; A lovely sheet of Shin Ply or Japanese Ply, with some Ino Shi 18gsm tissue stuck face down onto it. Tissue on which I’ve traced out my sketch in Chinese brush and ink. Then, once it is dry, I spend weeks carving this key block with my trusty, left handed, hangito.  What have you made that you are most proud of?

 Not sure I like the word proud… however the work I am most satisfied with at the moment is the new experimental process, I am developing with Wuon Gean Ho and Judith Westcott, called Tabi Hanga. It’s really showing more and more depth the more I play with it and the more I use it the more I love the results it gives me.   Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

 Through my website of course, on which there is a list of the galleries that hold my work. I’m also at brilliant shows like The Great Print Show at Rheged for example. See press for details.  What will we be seeing from you next?

 I’ll be working through the sketches for my Cadair Idris series and producing those prints. Which will give me a chance too further develop the Tabi Hanga process. After that I’ve got a few more projects in mind I’d like to get started on, perhaps a coastal path here, maybe a Ridgeway there.  Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
 Hmm one aways has to be careful about offering advice. Implies the offeree knows more than the person to whom the advice is offered. But here goes with a few pointers: Try sh*t out. Play around and have fun. Be brave and print/paint/draw as if no-one else is going to see it, ever. It doesn’t matter if other people love it or hate it, how do YOU feel about it. And never, ever, feel slighted if some anonymous selection committee rejects your work for some show or other. It really, really, is all completely subjective.

Measure Pattern Tape is a really useful bit of kit for your printmaking projects. This adhesive ruler tape can be stuck onto your printing surface or board to help lay out your designs accurately. It's self-adhesive and we've even found it can be lifted up and re-used a couple of times until the stickiness is gone (this will depend on your surface). Here, we use it to help us register blocks for printing onto fabric. This way we can make sure our spacing is accurate and straight.  We're block printing using Madder, Cutch and Co. inks which are made using natural pigments. They can be used for screen printing too, but we're using them with a stencil foam brush to apply to a block.    Pin your fabric onto a padded surface. Unroll some measure tape and stick it down on the fabric where you would like your first row of prints. Use a stencil foam brush to apply ink to a block. This is Madder, Cutch and Co ink in Burghley Blue. This mounted square lino block has been carved using the method in this project.  Position the block face down on the fabric, using the measure tape as a guide. We're printing in alternate colours, which means we need to leave the correct size gap between the prints. The measure tape will show us the exact space needed for a print to fill in the gap with another colour later - in this case, 7.5cm. Further rows can be printed above, using the gaps as guides.  Our second colour is Madder Red.  The gaps left between the blue prints should exactly fit the red prints. Measure tape is also useful for blocks that do not sit right next to one another, like these round printmaking stamps, to ensure even spacing. Crosses drawn on the back of the stamps will help us to line them up. Blocks without clear printing edges can be particularly difficult to print accurately.. Here we have a small block mounted on a baren to ease the printing process by making it cleaner, less fiddly and easier to exert pressure on the block.  To place this print accurately, we can use the measurements in line with the edges of the baren (or wooden block etc.), even though we cannot see where the stamp will print. For even more accuracy, the edge of the baren or block can be lined up with the tape to give a straighter line of prints.  To heat set these prints, use an iron on a hot setting (appropriate for the fabric) and heat until the print feels hot to the touch. For this project you will need: Padded surface Fabric to print onto Measure Pattern Yojo Tape Madder, Cutch and Co inks Stencil Foam Brushes Blocks, e.g. Mounted Lino, Mastercut Printing Stamps,  Baren (from Lino Cutter and Baren Kit) - optional Iron

Dave Buonaguidi, AKA Real Hackney Dave is a Hackney-based artist who combines the visual and verbal language of advertising and propaganda with unique imagery and materials of found objects and ephemera. In a previous life, Dave worked in advertising for over 35 years, founding several creative agencies including St. Luke’s, 4Creative and Karmarama. He left advertising in 2019 to become a full-time artist after realising he was not meant to be part of a corporate world full of tossers. He also played cricket for Italy. Describe your printmaking process. I may be a bit different to a lot of artists. I need more than just a pretty picture, because a pretty picture doesn’t mean anything unless it has a strong concept at the heart of it. So, I start with an idea. I have already created my ‘brand’ guidelines, so I know colours and fonts and tone of voice etc and I then come up with thoughts and ideas to bring to life. But the idea is everything. I was trained in the very competitive world of advertising for a long time and the idea is the most important part of the process and the technique you use to bring that to life is almost secondary. I like to look at and then react to culture and what’s going on in the world because this immediately means I am creating work that may resonate more, and if it does that, I may have more of a chance of selling that work. Once I have the idea, I design it in Illustrator or photoshop to get an idea of what the finished piece will look like and once happy I begin the printmaking process, of artwork pozzies, prepping screens and colours, and then actually print the work. How and where did you learn to print? I had a stint of gardening leave for a year when I walked out of a company I had founded. I was so sick of my old life that I thought I needed to learn something new to start a new career. I did a one-day workshop at Printclub London and it literally changed my life and I just jumped in with both feet. I rented desk space in their studio and just spent the next year trying to improve technically and find my thing. Why printmaking? I just love it. I loved it when I went to college, but I only did it in foundation and as a stupid 20-year-old I didn’t continue. I guess I love mass production, the way to create many things in a short time appeals. I need to make money to fund my passion, and making more gives me better odds than making a painting over a few weeks, I have lots and lots of ideas and I want to make all of them. Mass production also helps to create better price points. I like the split between preparation and action too, the discipline is good for me. Where do you work? I work out of my studio in Hackney Wick. Describe a typical day in your studio. I turn up at 9 am every day and stay until 7 or 8. It’s my job and I treat the studio as my office. The discipline and routine help me to get into ‘work’ mode. Depending on what I’m working on, I will have different days, cleaning screens, preparing screens, thinking of ideas and producing ideas, and with lots of projects on the go at any one time, I can jump about if I need to or if I get bored. How long have you been printmaking? I did the course at Printclub in 2014, but only went full-time as a printmaker artist in 2020. What inspires you? Everything really, from things I see to things I hear, to things I do. Inspiration is everywhere for someone like me. What is your favourite printmaking product? Fluorescent pink ink from Screen tec. I wouldn’t exist without it. What have you made that you are most proud of? I don’t hold onto stuff like that, once it’s made, it’s gone. I have lots of things I’m proud of, but nothing in particular, it feels a bit retrospective and I prefer getting excited by the next idea. Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? I sell my stuff on my site realhackneydave.com and also in a few galleries. Clarendon Fine art Jealous Gallery The Drang Nelly Duff Printclub London Electric gallery What will we be seeing from you next? I’ll let you know. Hhahhaha. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives? Ask yourself why you’re doing it. Be professional, not only with people you work with but importantly yourself. This is your career, and it's essential that you take it seriously. Look at your competition and try to understand why they are good, and what they do that is better than you. Strive to improve and constantly progress technically and conceptually. Do your homework, understand the financial side of it all and be professional with people you work with. Then make as much money as you can to continue funding your practice. To see more of Dave follow him on Instagram

CMYK screen printing is a great way of bringing both your photographic and coloured art images to life through colour separation. This is achieved by layering four colours (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) on top of each other using only 4 screens.  To start, you will need to digitally create your artwork by completing the colour separation process (see our previous blog). Once you have generated your artwork, you will be ready to print your films and expose your screen.  If you’re unable to do this yourself, we can do it for you through our custom screen exposure service. When your screen is exposed and dry, tape around the underside of the screen to cover any open areas of mesh using parcel tape or blue block out tape. Now is also a good time to prepare your printing area making sure that everything you need is to hand, especially a bucket of cold water and soft sponge for cleaning. Before you start, you will need to prepare your inks. To do this you want to mix System3 Acrylic Medium with System3 Acrylic Paint in a 50:50 ratio. You will need to use the process cyan, process magenta, process yellow and black acrylic paints for this. Here we have mixed 100g of acrylic medium with 100g of acrylic paint. You want to make sure that your inks are completely combined before use so make sure to give them a good mix. To test the colour, swatch onto a scrap piece of paper. The inks will be vibrant but slightly transparent. This will allow them to overlap when printed and produce the final CMYK result.   For this project we have exposed our artwork on two A2 90T screens. We’re using a hinge board to hold our screen in place and ensure that it always goes down in the same place. Accurate registration is essential for this process. If like us you have exposed two layers on one screen you will need to cover one of them to protect it whilst you print. We’re starting with our cyan layer, so we want to cover our magenta layer. Using magazine sheets or a scrap piece of acetate, cover the design that you are not currently printing.   Apply a thick bead of ink to the top of your design and lightly flood your screen with ink. Make sure to hold your squeegee at a 45 degree angle. Place your squeegee back at the top of your design making sure you have no excess ink. Pull the squeegee back over the design using a nice firm, even pressure to print onto your registration film below. Before lifting your screen make sure to flood your design with ink. Halftone screens combined with a higher mesh count are prone to blockages so this step is essential.   Using your registration film as a guide position your paper.   Apply masking tape around the bottom corners of your paper to use as a registration guide. Once you're happy with the position of your paper, lower your screen and take your first print. This print will be your guide for the subsequent layers.   Pop a new piece of paper in position and cover your registration marks with parcel tape.   You can now print the first layer of your edition.   When you are ready to move on to the next layer, remove any excess ink from your squeegee and screen and clean down using your soft sponge and cold water. You can then dry your screen using an old tea towel or a hairdryer on the coldest setting. When the screen is completely dry you can move on to your next layer.   Repeating the steps above cover the design you no longer need and print your next layer onto your registration film. Use your first print - the one with registration marks - to align your next layer. When you're happy with your paper placement, reapply your masking tape guides. You can then do a test print on top of your first print to make sure that your registration marks align.   Cover your registration marks and print the next layer of your edition. Remembering to flood your screen between each print. Repeat the cleaning steps and move on to the next layer.   Repeat the process for the yellow layer. Be aware that this one can be a little trickier to register as it is lighter in colour.   You will now see the image coming to life!   Repeat the previous steps and finish by printing your black layer. The finished print!   For this project you will need: Aluminium screens with your artwork exposed. Squeegee Hinge Board (registration board and hinge clamps) Registration Film System3 Acrylic Medium System3 Acrylic Paint Paper to print onto - Snowdon Spatula Parcel Tape or Blue Block Out Tape Scissors Bucket with cold water and a soft sponge Tea towel