About the tutor

Erika Shiba is a Japanese printmaker born and raised in Hong Kong. She received her BFA in 2018 from Parsons School of Design in New York for Illustration and Printmaking and received her MFA in Printmaking at Illinois State University in 2021.Record-keeping, journaling, home(s), cryptology, and memory are at the core of Erika’s research. Her main interest currently is on memory and its delicate nature. She records, questions, and reflects on her own memory and creates ciphers to represent this process using printmaking techniques and graphite drawings. She memorializes intangible moments she remembers from her home(s) and symbolizes them using obscure forms and structures.

Her Instagram is: @erkashba

MPC is starting a new repeating course with Erika for Etching. This is a repeated cycle, meaning after the last advanced session is completed we will plan for the next cycle of classes to open again.

Open Studio Session 

• Also open to general public only copper etching for $350. 
• Includes using printing press, ink, ground and tools
• Not included copper plate and Fine paper, can be bought at our studio on the day - please request beforehand by emailing the studio or here may not be stock available.
• Included free in workshop price for beginner, intermediate and advanced, Students will need to pay for extra plate and paper if they require.

Click here to view Open studio Menu

Our rules on the open studio session. Please view this so you do not get turned away from our open studio sessions. 

LEVEL 1 BEGINNER Copper Etching: Beginner Course

A 1-day workshop that will introduce fundamental techniques used to create copper etchings. Participants will leave the course equipped with technical skills and knowledge of the process, which they can later use within their own practices. 

Etching is a traditional printmaking process in which lines or marks are physically bitten into a piece of metal (often copper) using an acid. This technique dates back to the sixteenth century and has been widely used by artists specializing in various mediums to create multiples of one image. 

This course will also include an Open Studio Printing Session.

Students will learn how to:

• Safely prepare a copper plate with hardground
• Explore image transfer techniques and work from your own existing drawings
• Safely use appropriate tools and acid
• Properly apply ink, register, print, and curate their print

After the workshop, students will bring home their etchings printed on paper and their copper matrices.

Materials needed:

• An A6 sized sketch (10cm x 15cm) of an image or composition you would like to turn into a print. Because this is a beginner course, please try not to make your image too complicated!

All other required materials will be supplied by MPC and the instructor.

LEVEL 2 Aquatint Etching: Intermediate Course

A 1-day workshop that will cover aquatint, an etching process that allows the printer to create a wide range of tonal values from fine and subtle to rich and dark. Because this technique is often used in conjunction with line etching, this course is a great next step for those who are keen on expanding their existing knowledge of etching. Participants will leave the course equipped with a further understanding of the etching process as a whole. 

• Students are required to know how to work with hardground
• This course will also include an Open Studio Printing Session.
• Students will pick up a pre-prepped plate covered with hardground before the lesson  (email us for pick up details)  so they can work on their image at home and focus on aquatint during the course. The class will focus on the aquatint process and hardground will not be covered. *Please email MPC to arrange for when you can come to pick up plates.

Students will learn how to:

• Properly and evenly apply aquatint to their plate
• Burnish their plate to remove unwanted marks or create highlights 
• Step bite their plate to get a range of tones 
• Create a print that combines hardground and aquatint techniques
• Experiment with the technical skills they have acquired

After the workshop, students will bring home their etchings printed on paper and their copper matrices.

Students will need to prepare:

• Their image fully drawn with needle tool on their hardground covered plate (we will etch this in class).The plate size will be A6 (105 x 184 mm) 

All other required materials will be supplied by MPC and the instructor.

LEVEL 3 Experimental Etching: Advanced Course

A 1-day workshop that will introduce advanced etching techniques, such as alcohol toner wash, tusche wash, sugar lift, and spit bite. Many of these techniques allow artists to add exciting textures to their plates and expand their imagery. Furthermore, students will have an opportunity to use their existing knowledge of etching and experiment with them. This course will highlight the abundant possibilities of the etching process when different techniques are combined.

• Students are required to know how to work with hardground
• This course will also include an Open Studio Printing Session.
• Students will pick up a pre-prepped plate covered with hardground before the lesson  (email us for pick up details)  so they can work on their image at home and focus on aquatint during the course. The class will focus on the aquatint process and hardground will not be covered. * Please email MPC to arrange for when you can come to pick up plates.

Students will learn:

• the properties of tusche crayon
• how printer toner can be used as a resist
• the difference between ferric chloride and nitric acid 

Students will need to prepare:

• Their image fully drawn with needle tool on their hardground covered plate (we will etch this in class).The plate size will be A5 (14.85 x 21 cm)

After the workshop, students will bring home their etchings printed on paper and their copper matrices.

Price discounts:

Students who would like to register for all three classes get a 20% discount, making the total fee 4,000HKD which also includes free access to the Open Studio session.

• All 3 classes: $4000 (20% discount)
• Beginner and Intermediate 2 course package: $2500
• Open studio only $350

Terms:

Minimum intake

Please note that we have a minimum participant intake in order to run our courses. This course has a minimum intake of 3 people to run. If there is less than 3 participants we may cancel/postpone this course, and we will issue a full refund. Participants will be notified by email if we cancel this course.

Student cancellation

Please note we do not offer refunds to student cancellations. We only offer 70% refund to students who are sick or have close contact or positively contracted covid. We require student to show us an official doctors note in order to receive the refund amount. Students must let us know at least 24 hours before class time starts in order to fulfil the refund criteria.

If we cancel the course for other reasons

If the art teacher becomes ill or has an emergency issue that requires us to cancel or postpone the lesson, we will notify students by email by 9pm the day before the class starts, and full refunds will be issued to all students.