Direct-to-Plate Photopolymer Gravure
Workshop with Don MessecDirect-to-Plate Photopolymer Gravure
July 21-15, 2025 (5 days)
Workshop prints examples
Welcome support of Hahnemühle USA
Limited to 8
The Soulful Print is how many refer to DTP (Direct-to-Plate) prints. There is something uniquely emotive about DTP gravure prints, a form of alchemy achieved by crushing ink into paper. And because the plate has an emulsion of photopolymers, you can go beyond transferring only your photographic images to the plate. You can let DTP open a whole world of mark-making and composition, allowing you to take your work to new places. The remarkable advantages of DTP prints have captured the admiration of critics, curators, exhibit judges, and collectors alike.
Once you grasp the technique, DTP transforms into a vibrant artistic journey. It is not only straightforward but also significantly faster than traditional gravure or most analog printing methods, all while avoiding the toxic mess associated with classic copperplate gravure.
DTP produces gravure-quality prints from UV-sensitive plates without the cumbersome requirements of a vacuum or contact frame, transparency films, screens, or carbon tissue, effectively eliminating the need for multiple baths of Ferric Chloride. Gone are the days of the tedious cycle of masking, etching, re-etching, deoxidizing the plate, and the rinse-and-repeat routine. Whether you started from film, paper, or digital, with digital imaging, you can unleash your creativity, enhancing your content, allowing anything you envision to grace the plate: drawings, photos, text, collage elements – if it can be digitized, it can become part of your masterpiece.
Utilizing a range of Epson inkjet printers, you can effortlessly print your image directly onto a plate’s emulsion before exposure. No special inks are required; Epson’s OEM pigment inks, Cone inks, and other aftermarket options work beautifully. Even the latest artist-grade dye-based inks may yield fantastic results.
Thanks to direct-to-plate technology, you can now expose your work directly under the sun, as well as fluorescent or LED UV lights and point light sources, achieving remarkable effects. The results are consistently reliable and repeatable, far surpassing those based on transparencies. All this adds up to a process that is creatively dialectic; it gets to the printing stage much sooner and with fewer expensive plate-making catastrophes.
This innovative process fosters a creatively dialectic experience, allowing you to reach the printing stage much sooner and with fewer costly plate-making mishaps. Transitioning to the art-making process becomes more energizing, enabling you to refine and experiment with your work, ultimately enhancing your artistic interpretation.
The journey of printmaking is not just about the final piece but the exploration and discovery that happens along the way. Each layer of ink, each adjustment of the plate, and each moment spent in the studio contributes to a deeper understanding of your artistic voice. Embrace the unexpected outcomes that arise from experimentation, as they often lead to the most profound revelations in your work. Join us in our workshops where we foster a supportive environment for creativity and innovation, allowing you to push the boundaries of your artistic practice while ensuring safety and sustainability in your methods.
More print examples here.
What’s Included
Plate size for the workshop is 8×10” that can be trimmed as needed to fit your image. EG, squares of 8×8″ can be cut from 8×10″. Your registration includes 5 Solarplates. The studio includes printing press, digital printer, etching inks and paper, a few computers for in-studio use along with all the other common tools and materials for making photopolymer plates and prints.
What to Bring
- Source materials such as digitized drawings and digital photographs in any of the following formats – PSD, jpg, TIFF, RAW. It is important that you bring original unaltered files in addition to your processed or manipulated versions. It can be more than useful to go back to an unmodified original to re-interpret or re-work the image once you and I see it here.
- Digital camera if you have one. Of course you can take pictures and video!
- Jump drive (thumb drive or other portable read/write media)
- Laptop which should have current versions of Photoshop or Lightroom or ON1 RAW or other imaging software. If you do not have any of this software please download a trial version for the workshop. We have one studio use Macs. Not enough to cover everyone’s full-time needs.
- Large enough luggage or box to pack prints with stiff protector (cardboard or matt board). Paper will be torn down to approximately 11×15” and can be return smaller to match prints
Registration includes a reasonable amount of materials and supports an extensive array of communal shop needs, costs and consumables.
That’s it! Any questions about supplies, please feel free to contact us.
Workshop Itinerary
- Monday morning begins with students arriving at the studio between 9:30-10 AM.
- Daily instruction is 10 AM to 4 PM with the studio open to students between 9:30 AM and 7 PM. Exception is Friday when the workshop ends at 4 PM.
- Bring a lunch everyday except Wednesday when we go out Dutch for a late(ish) lunch
- If opportunity and conditions collide we may get to add a photo excursion.