Print Workshop: Hand-Printing Techniques and Truly Original Projects

by Christine Schmidt

This is a book for low budgets and high ambition. Read it and you will learn how to put images of things onto other things. You will start by rolling up your sleeves. Your shirt will be stained anyways. At some point, you will harness the power of the sun.
 
Go ahead, look inside. You will see that you do not need a fancy studio to print a T-shirt or a picnic blanket. There is no specialized machine required to print anything you want in any room you want. A mural, a dartboard, a deck of cards, these are all possible.
 
In a week or a month, you will wake up to find you know words like acetate and substrate . You will be comfortable talking about ink and shopping at military supply stores. Perhaps most important of all, you will be printing images of things onto other things.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Design, Crafts, Creative, Art Design, How To

176 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2010

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and wide-ranging projects, from using linoleum blocks to screenprinting to cyanotypes. Unfortunately, the book is a decade old, and some of the specialized materials don't seem to be available anymore.

[cellomerl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. I bought it hoping there’d be more on linocut but was disappointed that it was treated only very superficially.

It is very nicely presented and the author uses a sort of gentle dry humour that makes it fun to read. There are some really interesting projects, and some that I just know I’ll never do in a million years even though they are quite clever (a cityscape made of pillows?). There are techniques and materials described in this book that I’d never even heard of before.

I found some of the how-to explanations a bit opaque, almost like some key steps were skipped, or the author assumes the reader has a certain level of knowledge (especially on photo editing software). I couldn’t make sense of the instructions for silk screening. It was like the pictures didn’t go with the instructions. I kept telling myself that maybe it’s obvious once you start doing it. I read through a couple of of the projects more than once trying to figure them out, then resorted to just scanning the instructions for the last few.

In all it is worth a read, but probably more useful if you are already familiar with the techniques and just want a few ideas. But if that’s the case you’re probably an experienced artist or craftsperson and therefore you don’t need the book.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't delve into this printmaking book as much since it's more craft projects and I'm looking for patterns/techniques that could translate to ceramic work. That said, there are some good projects in this and cute templates to use for printing on fabrics and other decorative items. There are placements, a picnic canvas with a great leaf print on it, a decorative tray, some larger canvases with calligraphy prints on them, etc. Some of these would require a good investment of cash, but nice to have the inspiration and the template if you want to recreate someone else's work. You can always throw in your own touches! I especially liked the sun printing chapter and the constellation template. There are some good gift ideas in here if you want to get crafty at Christmas. Despite it being a 2010 book, I thought the printing ideas were still very "now" and a lot like what you would find on Etsy. If you like that style, then this book will provide some good projects.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing that's nice about printing is that the talent threshold is low - a kid doesn't have to draw like Rembrandt to make a cool stencil or rubber stamp and achieve a satisfying result. I think that's what gives me the heeblies about crafts the most - all that work and then that crushed look on a kid's face if the result is not what he or she had envisioned. With printing, some of that expectation can be managed, and in fact, the end result can be more interesting than the original concept.

Full review on Pink Me: http://pinkme.typepad.com/pink-me/201...

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing. I have been an admirer of Christine Schmidt of Yellow Owl Workshop for a couple years now, and I was delighted to discover that she put together this fantastic how-to guide. I love love love hand printing and the projects in the book are really cool and useful. I'm sad to take this back to the library :( Someone buy it for me?

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly what I've been looking for: a great beginner's guide to printing at home, complete with a list of basic supplies needed and a reference section. This book is well worth it: cheaper than taking local studio classes and a great source for weekend projects.

[Jodi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book! Bought my own copy after returning the borrowed copy to the library. Inspiring, practical, and attainable ideas.

[David Gallin-Parisi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rad, beautiful, and unique print projects. There's detailed instructions, with detailed supplies. Projects range from easy to difficult, but all are inspirational. Especially the deck of cards.

[solène · Rating 3 out of 5]

You will start by rolling up your sleeves. Your shirt will be stained anyways. At some point, you will harness the power of the sun.

When I started to get interested in the various printing techniques that existed, I almost gave up because I was convinced I'd not only need to invest time, but also a lot of money.

Read this book and you will learn how to put images of things onto other things.

And then I found this book: it explains everything from how to set up a studio, to colour theory, to the many different "printing" techniques (relief printing, wax seals, stencils, cyanotype, image transfer, pin-pricking, embossing, embroidery...) and it all seems so simple!

It is full of lots of projects, templates, tips and ressources, and I. just. love. the page layout.

[Lael Marsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good on the range of costs of the projects. Very basic for the most part though.

[liberal sprinkles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Print Workshop is a delightful book from Yellow Owl Workshop's founder Christine Schmidt. Not only is it filled with cute and whimsy designs for which the shop is known, there are useful tips on various forms of printing. You'll learn how to make your own stamps, stencils, as well as several sun-printing and image transfer techniques. The book teaches different ways of making items including stationery, patterned paper, decorative objects and wall art, all of which make really cool handmade gifts.

This is a great book for those new to DIY or printing. The tutorials are very easy to follow and well-illustrated, and many are kid-friendly. The materials required for most of the projects are also easy to source - many can be found at home (like vegetables and string) or in shops. Only some of the sun-printing projects require more specific materials like StencilPro and cyanotype paper.

[Crown Publishing]

This is a book for low budgets and high ambition. Read it and you will learn how to put images of things onto other things. You will start by rolling up your sleeves. Your shirt will be stained anyways. At some point, you will harness the power of the sun.

Go ahead, look inside. You will see that you do not need a fancy studio to print a T-shirt or a picnic blanket. There is no specialized machine required to print anything you want in any room you want. A mural, a dartboard, a deck of cards, these are all possible.

In a week or a month, you will wake up to find you know words like acetate and substrate. You will be comfortable talking about ink and shopping at military supply stores. Perhaps most important of all, you will be printing images of things onto other things.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great primer on various different DIY hand-printing techniques with lots of details and instructions, basically what I wanted Lotta Prints to be but it wasn't at all. I thought there was a good balance between "you really should buy the higher quality version of these materials" and "here's how to hack together a cheap frame that will work just as well" too, many craft books are too much in one direction over the other. The projects were quite nice as well, actually original ideas and quite a few that I would actually consider making. I got it out from the library but would buy a copy if I wanted to get into printmaking as yet another crafty hobby.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've checked this book out of the library several times and will probably end up buying a copy. I am a professional artist and, although I have some experience in printmaking, it isn't my area of expertise. But it is a fascinating process. This book is great for anyone interested in exploring the possibilities of printmaking utilizing at-hand or easy to obtain supplies. It is not about the more complex print processes such as copper plate etching or mezzotint, but more about variations of relief printing, stenciling and even some solar methods.

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really, really great and easy to follow. The author covers a wide variety of ways to print, which makes this a nice book to have around in you're just getting into any sort of printing. I got a lino cut kit recently, and this was nice to have around for information on different kinds of supplies and helpful hints. It'll definitely be staying on my bookshelf.

[Ariane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book went over a wide variety of techniques (some of them I'm not sure really qualified as hand-printing, such as hand sewing...), but it didn't really go in depth into any of the techniques or how to achieve high quality results. I was expecting a bit more depth due to the size of the book, but it still had a lot of good project ideas.

[Derick Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the ideas and straight forward practical nature of this book. It's inspired my art in several new ways and opened me up to a whole new style of creating things. I highly recommend it for ideas you can do on your own or to teach your kids. It can be applied on so many levels that you can't really go wrong if you're a creative person.

[kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty good compendium of easy, DIY print techniques. I'm so tired of hunting down tutorials online - sometimes it's nice to have them all in one spot.

Making a wax seal out of carved glue dots affixed to a tube of lip gloss? Genius.

[amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting project ideas, though in a few cases they stretch the definition of hand-printing and not necessarily in a way that encourages further exploration--more like... "I *guess* this counts as hand-printing, sure." Whatever; I'm still going to use it!

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was just running out of ideas from my other print book when I came across this gem. Great, low cost, uncomplicated print ideas. Maybe I just love printing so much that I'll give any printing manual loads of stars.

[Xiandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the art in this book and was surprised to see that much of the artwork looked like some i'd done before. I thought it just looked wonderful and some of the ideas for printing were very clever.

[Ann]

As a professional artist, I use the Print Workshop as a reference. I work primarily in kin-formed glass. Christine's approach is fun AND effective. The projects are easy to translate into other mediums. My copy is well worn.

[Clover · Rating 3 out of 5]

great instructions for if I ever want to really get into print-making without actually taking a class. Right now though, I think I just want to carve up some erasers, so the instructions were a bit too much for me.

[Shelby · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good for people who know nothing about printmaking. The projects were modern and looked fun to make. They weren't dumb, they looked great and could foresee actually making them. But for someone who knows a lot about printmaking professionally, this was kind of eh.

[Selkie · Rating 3 out of 5]

For someone that has a basic knowledge of printing the instructions for the projects may be easily understood, but for a true beginner they can be a little unclear. Nonetheless, it has some good ideas for those that can execute the projects.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has some lovely ideas, which are explained simply. I have another book called Lino Cut by Nick Morley, which is pretty much "everything you ever needed to know about block printing", but this is more project based and suitable for a hobbyist.

[RH Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun ideas for printing things like decks of cards, jar labels and place-mats, and making stamps out of big sweet potatoes.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my review here: http://halfasleepblog.wordpress.com/2...

[Brigette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A basic intro to hand printing, with some fun project ideas. I like her aesthetic.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are an absolute beginner, this might be a good book to start with. It was too low level for me and while I liked some of the prints, was not really inspired by what I saw.