Etching on Copper using Mock Mezzotint techniques (2day)

Join printmaker and avid etcher Catherine Horner in a two-day workshop working with copper plates and focusing on the meditative and visually striking intaglio method of ‘mock’ Mezzotint.  

This course is a great way to begin or expand your own printmaking practice, especially for those who are interested in intaglio processes. This workshop is ideal for keen and practiced drawers (but prior printmaking experience isn’t necessary!) who want to take advantage of the subtle tonal gradations and soft, painterly qualities Mezzotint produces.  

Whilst Mezzotint plates are most often created using a tool called a rocker, we’ll be focusing on ‘mock’ aquatint techniques to create our plates, making the process more accessible and allowing you to focus on drawing, burnishing, inking techniques and printing. 

This course will teach you the ‘mock’ mezzotint process, beginning with preparing and de-greasing your plate, aquatinting and etching, working from dark to light & burnishing techniques in relation to drawings, inking using a hot-plate and finally printing your mezzotint. Work that is atmospheric, contrasted and visually striking goes hand-in-hand with mezzotint methods.  

At WYPW, we etch plates with ferric chloride and citric acid (Edinburgh Etch solution) and will be utilising the aquatint box. PPE is always provided, but we do not recommend this course for pregnant women, or for those with known allergies to chemicals. Please ask before you book if you’re not sure.  

Experience level

Both beginners and experienced printmakers are welcome, but confidence and skill in observational drawing and painting are ideal.  

What’s included?

All course prices include basic materials such as inks, paper, tools and equipment.

What should I prep beforehand?

An idea of what imagery you’d like to create would be great to consider before attending the workshop. We’ll each be working with an A6 copper plate, so printed imagery or photography/ drafted drawings and sketches within those dimensions would be helpful. We’ll be spending time during the workshop drawing and transferring basic sketches to our plates, however, so any imagery brought in does not need to be fully realised or detailed! 

Your Tutor:

Catherine Horner is a printmaker and illustrator based in West Yorkshire, who’s practice primarily focuses on intaglio techniques such as hard-ground etching, aquatint, spit-bite and mezzotint. Her interest in these processes comes from a desire to physically engage and work with materials like metals, wax and acids to create imagery rather than more immediate forms of making.

Catherine trained at Leeds Arts University before completing a year-long fellowship at West Yorkshire Print Workshop. She has been the on-site Huddersfield technician at WYPW since 2024 and now works as Print and Printmaking Instructor at Leeds Arts University.

What’s next?

After attending this course you can join our workshop as a member and continue to use our facilities to make and develop your own work. The sooner the better, as the longer you leave it the more you are likely to forget! If you join up within one month of attending the course you will receive a £5 discount. Find out more about the benefits of membership here: https://www.wypw.org/shop/standard-membership/

Cancellation Policy:

• If you have to cancel:

If you are unable to attend your booked course, we may accept the fee paid as payment towards a place on the same or another course that takes place within the same financial year (running 1 April-31 March) following the originally booked event. Such a transfer will be on condition that we are informed in writing of your intentions four weeks prior to the originally booked event. Bookings can only be transferred once. If you are unable to attend, and not in a position either to transfer to another event, then the following charges will apply: Cancellation charges

• 16-12 weeks before the course: 50 % of the fee will be retained by WYPW
• Less than 12 weeks before the course: 100% of the fee will be retained by WYPW
• Please note that full payment is required for non-attendance on a booking that has been transferred.

If you have any further questions about our cancellation policy, please contact us on info@wypw.org

• If we have to cancel:

West Yorkshire Print Workshop reserves the right to cancel or re-arrange courses if there are insufficient participants enrolled to run a viable course or for other unforeseen circumstances. We will do our best to give those who have already enrolled at least one weeks’ notice of cancellation. In such circumstances you will be offered a free transfer to another course date or a full refund of fees paid. By enrolling in our courses, participants agree to abide by the terms and conditions outlined above. 

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