Make Your Mark: Printmaking

An exciting 10-week printmaking course
Focused on experimentation and play.

Working in either mono-print, linocut
Or collagraph or a combination of techniques, you will develop your use of Mark-making
Colour, layering, and registration through guided demonstrations and studio
Time.

This
Course aims to build confidence in your printmaking skills, encourage you to
Take creative risks with your themes and processes and create a vibrant series
of prints. It is
Ideal for total beginners and those with some experience of print making who
Would like to develop their skills and/or explore new techniques.

Over the 10 weeks you will:

Build practical skills in monoprinting
Lino printing, collagraphs, and combined techniques

Experiment with texture, colour
Layering, and expressive Mark-making

Develop a cohesive, personal body of
Work

Refine ideas through feedback and
Reflection

Create a series of prints that displays
Your creative voice

Week 1:

Introduction to the course, print
studio, and materials. Tutor Jo will provide demonstrations to introduce basic
Printmaking processes, safe tool handling, and Mark-making through experimental
Methods, then you'll begin visual and tactile research using a range of tools
Textures, and surfaces to explore printed Mark.

Week 2:

Exercises will focus on developing
Marks through print processes, exploring how tools, pressure, and materials
affect printed outcomes. You’ll experiment with plates/blocks and surfaces
Building confidence in handling print materials, with individual guidance.

Week 3:

Jo
Will introduce colour theory, tonal variation, and layered printing techniques.
You’ll explore opacity, transparency, and overprinting through guided practical activities, supported by
Demonstrations and one-to-one feedback.

Week 4:

Looking at composition, repetition
scale, and registration. You’ll translate your exploratory work into more
Intentional print designs, planning images for repeat, pattern, or small
Editions through structured print tasks.

Week 5:

Refining plates/blocks, improving
consistency, and developing variation within printed outcomes. You’ll deepen your
Technical control through sustained printing, experimenting with ink
Application, pressure, and subtle adjustments.

Week 6:

Exploring building texture and depth
through layered printing, surface manipulation, and mixed techniques. You’ll be
Encouraged to take creative risks, combining methods to push the expressive
Potential of print.

Week 7:

Discussion and demonstrations explore
combining printmaking approaches and developing a personal visual language. You’ll
Make informed technical choices, supported by individual guidance, to
Strengthen intention and consistency.

Week 8:

Experimental approaches to printing
focusing on pushing materials, processes, and methods beyond initial outcomes. You’ll
Test unconventional inking, pressure, registration, and layering, working
between control and chance. Emphasis is placed on proofing as a tool for
Discovery, allowing unexpected results to inform the development of a body of
Work.

Week 9:

Demonstrations will explore iterative
printing, disruption of established methods, and purposeful variation. You’ll
Rework, overprint, alter, and combine prints, embracing accident and adaptation
as part of the process. Attention will be given to selecting and refining
Experiments that hold visual and conceptual strength.

Week 10:

The final week focuses on completing a
Series of experimental prints and making thoughtful selections rather than
producing a single ‘perfect’ outcome. Learners resolve work through editing
Sequencing, and presentation, reflecting on how experimentation has shaped
their practice. A tutor-led group critique supports discussion around process, risk-taking
And future development.

About the tutor:

Tutor Jo Shearer is an artist and art
educator living and working in Leicestershire. Her belief is that art is for
everyone. It is another language for expressing and communicating our
Experiences, thoughts and emotions which often reflect the world around us and
how we fit into it. Art can demonstrate a tremendous level of skill and be
Aesthetically pleasing; however, the greatest strength is in its capacity to
express and unite people. Jo studied Visual BA (Hons) Arts and English
Literature and a PGCE in secondary art. She taught in schools and colleges in
Hertfordshire and Leicestershire for over 10 years.

After
Leaving mainstream education she continued her love of teaching through
tutoring and went on to develop workshops like this one. She enjoys the freedom to work in a variety of media and
has an ever-increasing love for print. She enjoys nurturing creativity and
Developing individuals' skills to build confidence in their own work as well as
Evoking a sense of calm and release of emotions through the process of making.
Her personal work explores the spaces that we inhabit, the collection of
Experiences and emotions that connect us to a place and the inherent beauty of
The natural world in all its forms.

Further information:

This 10-week course will run on Tuesday afternoons, 1:30pm - 4:30pm
starting on 21 April, with the final session on 30 June 2026.

Please note: no session Tuesday 26 May 2026 (half term
Break).

All materials and equipment will be provided. Please come in old
clothes and/or bring an apron as printing can get messy! We do have aprons to
Borrow too if you prefer.

Participants must be aged 14+. Under 18s must be accompanied by a
Paying adult at all times.

If the
Course/workshop you'd like to book is sold out, we do operate a waiting list
Simply contact our box office team on / arts-centre@le.Ac.UK and ask to be added to the waiting
list. We’ll then contact you if a place becomes available, with absolutely no
Obligation to accept it if you've made other plans!

Please ensure that you agree to our updated Terms
& Conditions before booking as courses/workshops are non-refundable if cancelled within 21 days of the start date for
Any reason.

We aim to
make all our sessions as accessible as possible and carers/PAs are very welcome
just remember to book their free place when you book your session. If you'd
Like to talk to us in advance of booking or attending your sessions to discuss
your access needs, our Box Office team is here to help! Email
Arts-centre@le.Ac.UK, pop in or call, open 7 days a week.

We have four blue badge parking spaces outside Attenborough Arts
Centre, plus double yellow line roadside parking very close to the building for
Blue badge holders for up to three hours if our parking spaces are occupied.

Free parking for all customers is available after 5pm on weekdays
and all day at weekends in the University of Leicester car park next door to
Attenborough Arts Centre on Lancaster Road.

The closest public car park for parking at all
other times is Victoria Park, 5-10 minutes walk from us (near De Montfort
Hall).