Good news! We now have an etching press as well as our Albion press, which means we can offer both etching and relief-based printing. Whether you are a complete novice or a master printer, we have classes, courses, and open access sessions to suit all. For those who want to give a new printmaking technique a go for the first time, we have taster sessions in various disciplines throughout the term. Those who want to learn more are welcome to book on to our two short courses running for 3 and 7 weeks. For those who have a specific project in mind, know at least the basics but need a bit of guidance, we have Supported Open Access sessions available. And for those who know what they’re doing and just need a studio to work in, we have our unsupported Open Access sessions. So there you have it, scroll down and take a look!

This term we are offering two short courses in Creative Bookbinding, one 3-days long in the first half term, and the other 7-days long in the second half term. We are also running some 2-day workshops that combine paper marbling and bookbinding to allow you to bind your own marbled paper into an A5 book. Dotted throughout the term we have one-off marbling sessions, and closer to Christmas we will run wrapping paper marbling sessions for all the family.

This term, we are hosting a drawing series rather than a drawing course, meaning you can book onto one session or book onto several and treat it like a course. For those who return multiple times, we will build upon what you learn in each session so you can challenge yourselves and push further. In each drawing workshop, we will start with small exercises to warm up our drawing skills. We offer a variety of different materials and equipment for free in these sessions.

We have three suggested bundles of drawing sessions you can buy to create your own course:

1. The Still Life, Landscape & Portraiture Bundle is an excellent selection of sessions for both complete drawing novices and skilled sketchers alike. This set of courses will teach traditional techniques but also bring a sense of play into drawing. 

   Sessions to pick: Pattern & Texture, Playing with Scale in Drawing, Introduction to Colour, Landscape, Portraiture, Portraiture in Colour.

2. The Drawing to 3D Bundle - For those who want to try something a little different and like making a mess. This set of courses introduces you to using collage as a method of composing drawings, forcing you to not be too precious about what you create by encouraging you to rip it up and rearrange it. We then translate this into 3D drawn sculptures in the second session, bringing a new dimension to our compositions and creating collage and drawings with depth. In the third session we will take this composing further and then translate it back into 2D by drawing our sculptures. This course is all about freedom, play and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone - if this sounds scary to you and you think it’s not for you, perhaps that's your sign to give it a go and see what you learn!

   Sessions to pick: Drawing & Collage, From Drawing to Sculpture, From Sculpture to Drawing

3. The Drawing from the Mind - This two-parter is perfect for those who recall their dreams to their loved ones at the breakfast table, or those who have just had enough of observational drawing! We’ll start with drawing from a chosen treasured memory (using photographs, diary entries, holiday itineraries, or family heirlooms as prompts if you like) pushing our powers of recall to the limit. Then in the second session we’ll go further by using a piece of literary text as inspiration for a drawn composition. You’ll learn to translate the words you hear or read into a visual scene that conveys the details and feelings of the piece. A great exercise for anyone to push themselves beyond observational drawing.

   Sessions to pick: Drawing from Memory, Drawing from the Imagination