Mezzotint with Jodi Le Bigre
On the 29th and 30th of November - learn Mezzotint; a technique celebrated for producing the richest, most velvety blacks possible – with the flip side of this being that it allows the artist to draw with light!
Before the invention of photography, the wide range of tones and delicate gradations that characterise mezzotint meant that the technique was frequently employed for portraiture and the reproduction of oil paintings. However artists such as John Martin, M.C. Escher, Yozo Hamaguchi, as well as Chuck Close among many others also found this tonal technique perfectly suited to expressing their visions.
From a technical perspective, mezzotint sits within the intaglio family as a type of engraving. Metal plates are worked over with a tool called a ‘mezzotint rocker’ until they can hold enough ink to print deep, inky black. Then, through the use of scraping and burnishing tools, the artist can smooth and lighten parts of the plate, making an image by creating tones that range from deep greys to white highlights.
On this course participants will learn how to prepare, draw and print a mezzotint on copper using an etching press. Because this is a labour-intensive technique, during the course we will also explore alternative ways to achieve a mezzotint effect and discuss how mezzotint can be combined with other intaglio techniques.
Jodi Le Bigre is a Canadian-born artist based in Scotland, working broadly across a full spectrum of printmaking, painting, and installation practices. Her work grows out of an interest in the interaction and interrelation of people and their environments, as well as people’s imagining of wilderness and otherness, and how the concepts of natural and human resources play into these interactions.
Jodi currently works at Peacock & Worm as an editioning collaborative printmaker (a.k.a. master printmaker) and technician. Previously she has worked in similar roles as etching technician at Edinburgh Printmakers and at the Glasgow School of Art as a lithography technician. Jodi is a graduate of the Masters of Fine Art Practice (MLitt) at Glasgow School of Art, where she focused on printmaking. She has been invited on artist residencies in Italy, Belgium, France, Germany, and the UK, and has been awarded such prizes as the Royal Scottish Academy’s John Kinross Award and the Society of Scottish Artists’ Eichstätt Lithography Award. She regularly exhibits work in Scotland and internationally and her work is held in private and public collections, including the Royal Scottish Academy, Dumfries House, Iraq National Library, Universitätsbibliothek Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, and Herron Art Library at Purdue University.
Book over a month in advance to receive 15% off the course price with our Early Bird tickets!
This course entitles you to a FREE 3-month Associate Membership to use the studio and consolidate your skills.
Course Times 10am-5.30pm
Tutor Jodi Le Bigre
Suitability Beginners and Experienced Practicioners
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Weekend Courses
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£240.00 -
29 November 2025 -
10:00 -
Print Studio -
Adult 16+
