Being a printmaker for the week: Emma’s diary of work experience at The Peacock & The Printmaker Studio

Hello my name is Emma, I am 15 years old and I have always loved drawing and being creative. I was in the studio of The Peacock and The Printmaker because I wanted to learn the lifestyle and different aspects of being an artist using this as a way to figure out what it means to be an artist.

Daily Tasks

Throughout the week I have been working on an overall project (as seen in the image above), with Heather teaching me and helping me throughout the week. On Monday, Heather took me to the coast where I learned how to sketch waves and things in real time which is something I’ve always been curious about.

Then on Tuesday I was taught the printing process and I did my first layer using golden ink repeating that 10x . Finally I began the carving stage of the process, using a Lino gouge to carve out the lines I wanted to be gold which heather demonstrated and help me through,

Then I was taken to The Biscuit Factory where we looked at various paintings, which really showed the sense of community and togetherness the artistic occupation holds.

On Wednesday in the morning I began my second layer of the printing process using the pattern I carved the previous day painting it with blue ink and pressing it with the gold layer I did the day before, repeating that process 10x.

Afterwards, I began to carve the pattern so I only had the shapes I wanted to be red using a big Lino gouge, Then lightly tapping the red ink with a paint brush onto the shape then pressed the pattern against the current print I had.

Finally, on Thursday Heather taught me a lot about the social media part of being an artist, showing me how to correctly photograph and sign my finished project. Helping me edit the photographs - for example adjusting the light and cropping it.

Favourites…

Personally my favourite thing that I’ve done is the carving and printing process as I found it pretty easy to find my routine with both and overall it is being a relaxing process after being shown it and getting used to it.

3 Things I’ve Learned

3 Things I have learned from this experience is that:

• firstly you need to get to know people, support them and their work, make connections around in order to get noticed or seen as an artist

• secondly I’ve learned about the importance of giving yourself a break and time in order to do the best you possibly can

• finally I have learned that art can be whatever you want it to be and doesn’t always have to be perfect the first time - it might take a couple tries to get the painting the way you want it to be.

Do you like the sound of being a printmaker for the afternoon? Book your workshop here.