Introduction to Letterpress Printing

 Registration is closed for this event

December 7th, 2015 6:30 PM

  • Instructor: Annemarie Munn
  • Workshop Type: Printing
  • Workshop Status: Closed
  • Workshop Start: December 7th, 2015 6:30 PM
  • Workshop End: December 7th, 2015 9:30 PM
  • Sessions: 1

This beginning-level workshop is designed to familiarize the uninitiated with the world of letterpress by offering hands-on experience with the Cylinder Press and the Tabletop Platen Press.

Participants will learn the difference between the types of presses as well as the basics of setting type using SFCB’s vast collection of lead type and decorative ornaments.

Materials to bring: None

Workshop + Materials Fee: $65.00

Date/Time: Monday, December 7, 2015 | 6:30pm-9:30pm

Location: 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Note: Please review our Registration Policies before signing up for a class. If you are registering within 3 days of the start date for this class, please call 415-565-0545 ex.105 to complete your registration 

About the Instructor | Annemarie Munn

I'm always looking for more old presses to print on and learn about, and the weirder the better; so far I've printed on 14 different models of letterpress, plus four different kinds of foilstamper, and counting. I especially love printing with unusual forms or on unusual substrates, and experimenting with hot foil stamping processes. I usually create my illustrations and hand lettering by painting with Sumi ink, then printing the images from polymer plates, though of course I also love wood and lead type and old found images (who doesn't?). I draw inspiration from the gridded city landscape around me (I love to tell little neighborhood stories!) and from my more-rural upbringing --- when I close my eyes I see chickens and a half-acre of vegetables in rich brown dirt; when I open them again, the ground is made of sand and the roar of the surf mixes with the N-Judah streetcar rattling by. And each time I touch a letterpress, I am thrown back to the days when a broadside would arrive in the mail on childhood Christmases, each with a different poem cracking the world right open.