Workshops
Our studio in New Haven, CT offers small, in-person and hands-on workshops in traditional print processes, from an introductory session in drypoint to more advanced technical work like lithography. Every workshop is led directly by our collaborative printer Irene Michnicki. Participants work with the same equipment and process used for professional editions, and leave with finished, hand-pulled prints of their own.
Drypoint: Scratching the Surface
A copper plate, a needle, and two mornings to dig into it.
This workshop is an approachable first step into intaglio printing.
SEPT 26-27
Workshop Details
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Dates: Saturday–Sunday, September 26–27, 2026, 10:30am–2:30pm each day (1-hour lunch break included)
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Skill level: Beginner, no experience necessary
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Price: $225 per person
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What's included: Copper plate, drypoint needle, ink, paper, use of studio tools and presses
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What you'll leave with: Your drypoint plate and small edition of prints
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Class size: Limited to 8 participants
Drypoint is the entryway through which many printmakers fall in love with intaglio, and for good reason. You scratch a design directly into a plate with a sharp point, ink it, wipe it back, and run it through the press. The resulting image has a soft, burred characteristic line. It's part of why artists have used this technique for centuries.
We will be working on copper for this workshop. It's a little more demanding to scratch into than softer metals, but it holds a line with precision and stands up to printing a smaller edition without softening.
In this workshop you'll be working with Irene Michnicki, the professional collaborative printer behind Milestone. The workshop is split across two days. This timeframe allows for you to get your image down onto the plate and ample room for proofing and reworking before pulling an edition. Creating a drypoint on copper takes patience. You'll be taking the design from your head to metal, then metal through the press onto paper. Day one: drawing, transferring, and carving your plate. Day two: proofing, adjusting, pulling your final edition on our etching press.
If you can hold a pencil, you can hold a drypoint needle, regardless of your printmaking background.
Photolithography: Drawing with Light
Light does the drawing and the centuries old lithographic chemistry of grease vs. water does the rest. (...kind of, you still have to do the inking, printing and the original image creation)
NOV 6-8
Workshop Details
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Dates: Friday–Sunday, November 6–8, 2026, 5pm-8pm Friday, 10am–4pm Saturday & Sunday (1-hour lunch break included)
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Skill level: Intermediate to advanced, prior printmaking experience required
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Price: $795 per person
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What's included: Transparency films, drawing materials, photoplates, processing chemistry, ink, paper, use of studio tools and presses
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What you'll leave with: Your photolitho plates and small edition of prints
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Class size: 6-8 participants
In this workshop, you'll build a multi-layer photolithograph entirely by hand. Working across three separate plates, each color layer will be drawn directly onto film using litho crayon, tusche, and other various drawing materials, without any photographic layers involved. Each layer is exposed onto its own plate using the same equipment we use for contract editions, and you'll learn how to register the plates precisely so all three align into a single cohesive image when printed together.
This is a technical, hands-on workshop built for people who already have printmaking experience and want to expand their lithographic knowledge. Over four days, you'll develop three registered plates, mix and adjust ink for each color pass, and pull a small edition of a finished, hand-drawn, multi-layer print.
You'll be working directly with Irene Michnicki, a professional collaborative printer who specializes in lithography, using the same process and equipment Milestone Graphics uses for contract editions.