What do you need to set up a printmaking studio at home in a small space?
If you are thinking about setting up a printmaking studio at home you might want to consider how much space you have to use. If you live in a small space you can set up in something as small as a counter space.
When you have a larger area to work with, then you can do a lot more. This sounds fairly obvious, but I started out with printmaking in a very small amount of space and worked up to converting my dining room into a print studio.
I am not suggesting you go to the extreme of converting half of your home into a print studio, but if you are as nutty about print as I am… chances are you have already started to take over sections of your home. In the near future I will write about that in another article.
I want to clarify that I am not writing about having any chemicals in your home for printmaking such as a place for etching. I am strictly talking about printmaking at home.
“Home” being the main point here. If you use chemicals in your printmaking, that is your choice, however, I choose to write about using as much non toxic or low danger processes so that printmaking can be explored worldwide in your homes.
Now that I have gone on a small tangent, let me circle back…
Small Printmaking Studio Essentials
Here is a list of basic items you need for relief printmaking at home and do not take up much space:
- Some sort of table top (a counter or a small table)
- A bench hook (you can find free plans for this here)
- A sheet of wood or linoleum
- A trash bin for shavings
- Carving tools ( you can find out which are my favorite here.
- A small area for paper storage and ink. I have used a drawer or a small container.
- A spoon or barren
You can find out a complete list of how to get started with linocut printmaking here.
Stages of Printmaking at Home
Using a small space for printmaking is doable, it just takes a bit of organization, cleaning, and doing things in stages. For example you can organize your space for the following stages:
- Sketching and transfer
- Carving and clean up
- Paper tearing or paper preparation
- Registration
- Inking
- Printing
- Drying
If you are doing another kind of printmaking at home such as drypoint (intaglio), or monotype or collagrah; the process is basically the same. Drawing – plate building – paper or textile prep – registration – inking – printing
It is a process, but definitely can be done!
As you might be able to tell in the background of some of these photos, I had to share space with my babies toys and other items for storage.
If you do have a small home studio, I would love to hear from you and see what you have done in your small spaces to create a functioning home studio.
You can send me an email or you can join my Printmaking for Beginners Facebook group and share it there. I am sure not only myself could benefit from your input, but from printmakers from around the world.
