I had a wonderful weekend at Hot Bed Press back in March, teaching students the printmaking process of wood lithography, aka Mokulito. (‘Moku’ means wood in Japanese and ‘lito’ means lithography). I love this method of making prints. It uses wood as a matrix, which means you get beautiful wood textures appearing in the background, and lots of different kinds of wood can be used. How do you make a mokulito print? Mokulito relies on the basic principles of lithography – that grease and water repel each-other. To make a mokulito print, greasy lithographic drawing materials are used to make the im ..read more

Sat 1st June 2024 10-4 £55 Join me for a fun day learning Mokuhanga at York Art Gallery as part of their National Treasures: Monet in York exhibition events programme. Until I was asked to run this workshop, I never knew that Monet was a collector of, and hugely inspired by, Japanese woodblock prints. I’m really looking forward to visiting the exhibition! MORE INFO / BOOK ..read more

Day course Saturday 27 April 2024 10am – 4pm £75 Join me for a fun day learning the basic principles of lithography! Experience the magic of lithography without the time-consuming process! This one day workshop will introduce you to the process of paper lithography and will see you making quick, cheap, colourful prints using photo-paper as a matrix. We’ll be drawing directly onto photo-paper using acrylic paint and ink, and once dry these can be printed from straight away using oil-based ink. No need to think up any images beforehand – we’ll start with some experimental mark-making exerci ..read more

This Saturday May 4th is international Print Day in May! It’s an annual, global celebration of printmaking, and West Yorkshire Print Workshop will be opening their doors for it from 10am – 2pm. I’ll be there with my print technician hat on, trying out/demonstrating electro-etching in our experimental print lab! Researched and developed by Alfonso Crujera, electro-etching is an alternative and potentially less-hazardous method of etching metal plates which uses electrolysis. I’ll be joined by mechanical sculptor and WYPW studio holder Jim Bond and we’ll be in the lab 10 – 2. Will our experiment ..read more

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kathryn Desforges (@kathryn_desforges_studio) I thought I’d share a little glimpse into how I’ve been making some of my recent art prints using the monoprinting technique. This semi-abstract piece has a quiet energy to it, subtle yet powerful, evoking the energy and beauty of cascading water. Monoprinting is a printmaking technique which creates a unique, one-off print – never to be recreated. The paper is calligraphy paper I bought in China which I love for it’s delicate, ethereal quality. I’m never entirely sure when anything is finished. I ..read more

Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th January 2024 10-4pm £145.00 Join me for a 2 day workshop exploring the art of Mokuhanga – Japanese woodblock printing.  The technique of Mokuhanga is a versatile, accessible and non-toxic method of printmaking making use of water-based inks and the ability to print an image without the need for a press. Made famous by artists such as Hokusai and the ‘Great Wave’, the technique dates back hundreds of years, and is still used by contemporary artists all over the world today. Yielding delicate and subtle results, in contra ..read more

10 week course Monday 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th March, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th April, 13th, 20th May 2024 10am – 4pm £750 I’m really excited about teaching this new longer etching course! Kick-start your etching practice! Join artist and WYPW technician Kate Desforges for this 10 week course, perfect for those who want to really focus-in on etching and all its wonderful image-making possibilities.  Over the duration of the 10 weeks, we will de-mystify the etching process and the language which goes with it, (ever wondered what ‘open-bite’ means?? Hint – it’s nothing to do with teeth ..read more

Weekend course Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 March 2024 10.30-4.30 £155 In plywood lithography, or ‘Mokulito’, traditional lithographic drawing materials are used to draw and paint onto the plywood surface. The drawing is then processed using gum Arabic, and the block is inked up and printed using the etching press. Blocks can also be cut into using woodcutting tools, marrying up lithography with woodcut. Because of the coarser nature of wood in comparison to stone or metal plate, fine detail cannot always be retained, so this process would suit those who have a more experimental approach to ima ..read more

Day course Saturday 27 April 2024 10am – 4pm £75 Join me for a fun day learning the basic principles of lithography! Experience the magic of lithography without the time-consuming process! This one day workshop will introduce you to the process of paper lithography and will see you making quick, cheap, colourful prints using photo-paper as a matrix. We’ll be drawing directly onto photo-paper using acrylic paint and ink, and once dry these can be printed from straight away using oil-based ink. No need to think up any images beforehand – we’ll start with some experimental mark-making exerci ..read more

Sat 29th June – Tue 2nd July 2024 Sat-Mon 10-4pm / Tue 10-5pm £310.00 Join me for a hands-on, immersive, deep dive into Mokulito (wood lithography) on this 4-day Summer school. Explore the creative possibilities of this unique printmaking technique by working BIG and making full use of our large etching press (up to A2 size)! Thought lithography was a long, technical print process? Well, it doesn’t have to be as Mokulito offers a welcome alternative to the more complicated, technical processes of stone and plate lithography, by taking the basic principles and applying them instead to a wood su ..read more