Courses
We are back! (Actually, we've never gone away. We've just been busy and have had quite a few overflow courses that ran into this year. It's nice to be popular.) Our Summer season of courses are live and ready for you to book your places! There's lots to choose. From popular favourites to brand new courses. Something for everyone?!
Course listings
Collagraphs
Short Course
Learn how to transform a plain piece of mountboard into a printing plate, cutting fine lines, subtle areas of tone and adding texture & surface pattern to your plate. The varnished plate can be inked and wiped for different effects to add atmosphere and depth. You can ink the plate in different ways and work in colour working a-la-poupe or with a colour roll up. Across the weekend you can work on 2 to 3 plates and will come out with a set of prints to amaze your friends and family.
Introduction To Screenprinting
Short Course
Spend a weekend being shown how to screenprint. From mixing your water-based inks and printing using simple paper stencils you will go on to layer and build up colours. Mandy will show you how to coat and expose a photographic image onto screen, register and print your final ‘key’ colour bringing the image together. You will come away with a small edition of screenprints and can go on to print further designs and editions.
The Art of Lino
Short Course
Niki will show you how to design and cut your block to get the best out of a design. You will learn how to ink your lino consistently and print your block. Starting with black & white printing on Saturday, on Sunday you will go on to be shown the difference between multi-block and reduction printing and produce a two-colour printed edition printing on our lovely Abion and Columbian relief presses for perfect results.
Paper Marbling
Short Course
Come and spend a weekend with artist and bookmaker Bev Doughty as she introduces you to the colourful world of paper marbling. You will be able to create your own decorative papers to use as wrapping, covers or end-papers for artists books or resources material for your creative projects. Day one will start with an investigation into western marbling techniques creating intricate patterns using a variety of traditional implements. This will be followed by a calming dip into the Japanese art of suminagashi using water, ink and brushes. Day two will be spent exploring different ways of using marbled papers which will include making books, gift bags, bookmarks, cards and other creative projects. At the end of the course you will come away with your own selection of decorative papers, some useful makes and the skills to continue your marbling journey.
Coffee Can Pinholes
Short Course
Embrace your inner analogue and spend a day exploring pinhole photography and darkroom image-making on this introductory course to pinhole photography. Working with Andy’s own collection of hand-made pinhole cameras you will explore the urban environment on our doorstep learning how to create paper negatives. We will learn about how slow exposures can capture movement and light; sculpting in time itself, whilst investigating the possibilities of image making and digital manipulation of the negative. Exploring the art of capturing and bending light on photographic paper we will create a unique suite of prints to take away with you whilst introducing you to the darkroom process and the vast possibilities of one of the oldest photographic techniques.
Screenprinting With Natural Dyes
Short Course
Explore the world of sustainable screenprint with artist Nell Smith. Using a selection of foraged plant materials, kitchen waste and natural dye extracts, you will learn how to make plastic-free print pastes and how to use modifiers to unlock the magic of natural colour. Then use simple cut paper stencils to create your own designs. This course is suitable for those with a basic level understanding of screenprint who want to challenge and change their practice. On day one we will make and test colours and use modifiers to alter them. Day two will cover cutting stencils to make your own print designs.
The Complete Printmaker 2027
Long Course
Bookings for 2027 will be open from August 2026 and we expect high demand. Please contact us - andy@hotbedpress.org to express an interest and we will let you know as soon as bookings for this course is open. Our very popular Year-long adventure in printmaking, The Complete Printmaker, has been running since 2013. It's so popular that we now run 3 first year courses, (2 second years and a full 3rd year course), so you can do the equivalent of a degree course in experience. In fact we think you get better value for money at Hot Bed Press with our amazing facilities, expert teaching and support and the extra access across the full year.
The Complete Letterpress 2027
Long Course
We are full in 2026 and will look to run another Compete Letterpress course in 2027. Details are not yet confirmed for 2027, but this year's course ran over 20 weeks, from 4th Feb to 22nd July giving students a full and comprehensive grounding in Letterpress Printing
The Complete Book Artist 2027
Long Course
Bookings will be open for Complete Book Arts 2027 from August. Please contact andy@hotbedpress.org if you would like to be added to the expressions of interest list and receive an invitation to book your place as soon as we open up bookings. Run over 30 weeks from early Feb 2026 to mid December with membership running until 31st January 2028 this course gives students a full and comprehensive grounding in Book Arts, with a sprinkling of printmaking to incorporate into your beautiful books and design your book forms around. The course usually takes place on Wednesday evenings between 6.00pm and 9.00pm. We hope to confirm dates with our expert tutors, George Gibson, Sylvia Waltering and the 3 guest tutors who ad da sprinkling of printmaking to the book arts teaching.
Enquire about a course
faq's
We are happy to answer any questions on the phone but here are some commonly asked questions and answers below.
Do I need to be experienced to come on a course?
No experience necessary! Some courses are specifically designed for beginners; such as Introduction to Screenprint, Print or Letterpress, Painterly Screen-printing or The Art of Etching. Other courses such as Mokuhanga, Screen-printing with Natural Dyes or Photopolymer Printing are more tailored to those with some previous experience. However, if in doubt phone us to discuss.
How do I book a place on a course?
The best way to book a place is to phone us on 0161 743 3111. Our courses book up so quickly that we can be answering the phone all day whilst e-mails may take more time to get through every enquiry and still need us to phone or e-mail you back. We are a friendly bunch and can answer any of your questions when you ring to book.
Do you take a deposit to reserve a place?
No sorry, we are a small team and don't have capacity to have multiple systems in place. We only confirm bookings on full receipt of payment
What materials do I need to bring?
Nothing! We provide all materials for courses. All we need you to bring is some inspiration and clothes you don't mind getting ink on. You will receive an introduction letter letting you know what to prepare, such as drawings, photos, photocopies, collected images, and what size you can expect to work to.
Is food provided?
If you are on a day or weekend course please bring your own food. In our small kitchen we have tea, coffee, milk, and sugar and an urn as well as a microwave. The Co-op and Sainsburys are both nearby and we have the luxury of a couple of cafes nearby now with fancy coffee.
Are you accessible?
We recognise that our current building has some limitations in terms of accessibility. We are actively working to secure funding to make improvements and adapt our facilities so that we can better meet the needs of all our members. In the meantime, we welcome open conversations about individual requirements and will do everything we can to provide support and reasonable adjustments. We want everyone to feel included and supported when visiting Hot Bed Press so if you have a disability, need or concern, physical or not, please don’t hesitate to reach out so we can support you to access our print studio.
Membership
Come And Join Us
We welcome new members all year round. Anyone can join. You need a little bit of experience; but that can be from doing one of our weekend or evening courses, after which you can carry on and practice what you've learnt on the course. We've got a few types of membership to suit your purse or your time. Just g to our Membership section for more details.
Send us a message!
Let us know what you are enquiring about.