Cylinder Core Certificate Program

The handfed cylinder proof press, also known as the Vandercook press, has a special place in both print history and in teaching book arts. Immediate and accessible, yet nuanced and specific, it is the press that introduced many of us to letterpress. The four class Cylinder Core Certificate Program allows students to move quickly through the press basics while also addressing relief printing in general. Students who finish the four core classes are qualified to rent press time as well as move on to more advanced classes and techniques. Click here to learn more about the Core Certification Program and find out how you receive a discount.

Cylinder Core 4 :: Digital into Analog

Bring digital back into analog in this final core course and learn to print from photopolymer plates. Apply your letterpress skills to artwork created digitally to make fantastic plates for printing. Walk away with a stack of greeting cards printed from polymer plates.

Competencies Gained:

• Builds on skills from Cylinder Cores 1, 2 and 3

• Knowledge:

  • Introduction to polymer plate printing

  • Knowledge of various polymer plate bases and benefits/costs of each one

• Skills

  • Build on press setup skills

  • Build on ink mixing skills

  • Develop press cleanup speed

• Equipment

  • Increased familiarity with running the cylinder (Vandercook) press

All paper for SFCB's Core Certificate Program projects has been generously provided by Mohawk.

Materials to Bring: None

Prerequisite: Cylinder Core 1, 2, 3

Workshop + Materials Fee: $200.00

Date & Time: Tuesday & Wednesday, April 24 & 25, 2018 :: 6:30-10pm

Location: This workshop will take place at 375 Rhode Island St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Note: Please read the SFCB Registration Policies before signing up for a class

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE 3 DAYS PRIOR TO THE START DATE OF THIS WORKSHOP. 

About the Instructor | Leigh McLellan

Leigh McLellan typeset, letterpress printed, and hand bound letterpress books and broadsides from 1974 to 1990 under her imprint, Meadow Press. She has been an instructor at the San Francisco Center for the Book since 2002. She has also taught letterpress printing, bookbinding, and decorated papers at Mills College and the California College of Arts and Crafts, as well as workshops at the San Francisco Public Library, Stanford University, Pyramid Atlantic in Washington, DC, the Women's Graphic Center in Los Angeles, and the University of Iowa. Her work is in many library collections across the country, including the San Francisco Public Library, the University of San Francisco, Mills College, The University of California Bancroft Library, the New York Public Library, the Library of Congress, and the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, among many others. Her work has been exhibited widely. In a related field, she has been an independent commercial book and graphic designer since 1976, working mostly for publishers in the Bay Area. In both pursuits, she has won many design awards. See Leigh's Meadow Press work at http://meadowpressbooks.com and her commercial design work at http://www.leighmcdesign.com.

Past Student Reviews:

[What did you like most about the workshop?] “Getting my hands dirty for the final core class. And that I finally can use the Vandercooks on one of the studio days.”

“Got to solidify skills, continued to learn new things, a lot of attention from instructor.”

“I've really enjoyed seeing how much I've learned about letterpress with each class.”

“I really enjoy taking class with Leigh!”

Advance Your Letterpress Skills :: Choose a Secondary Core Workshop

Secondary Core :: Jobbing Platen Certification

Polymer Core 1 :: Digital Design for Letterpress

Polymer Core 2 :: Photopolymer Platemaking Lab