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(Artist Printmaker, Screen Printer, Designer Printmaker, Lithographer)
Creative & Media
Salary
€22,000 - €55,000/yr
Level
Professional
Outlook
Stable
Sector
Creative & Media
As a printmaker you create original artworks by transferring designs onto surfaces such as paper, fabric or card through techniques including etching, screen printing, lithography, woodblock and relief printing. Your daily work involves preparing plates, blocks or screens, mixing and applying inks, operating a printing press, and carefully inspecting finished prints for quality and accuracy. You may work independently from a personal studio, as part of a shared print studio cooperative, or within a college or arts institution. Collaboration with gallery curators, arts organisations, fellow artists and commissioned clients is common, and you may also teach printmaking workshops or integrate your practice into community arts projects.
Listen: a day as a Printmaker
You arrive at the shared print studio in Cork at half eight. The space is run as a cooperative, and your bench and press time are booked in advance on the studio's shared calendar. Before anyone else arrives, you check the drying rack from yesterday's session: a limited edition of twelve linocut prints you are producing on commission for a Galway gallery. Two have uneven ink coverage at the bottom edge, so you set them aside to reprint rather than pass them off as finished work. By nine o'clock you are back at the workbench preparing a zinc plate for a new etching. This involves degreasing the plate with chalk powder and methylated spirits, then applying a thin layer of waxy ground through which you will scratch your design. The chemical mordant you will later use to bite the lines into the metal is stored in a ventilated cabinet; you put on nitrile gloves and a lab coat before handling it. Safety is not optional here.
Art and Design at Leaving Certificate level is the most directly relevant subject, with English, History, and other creative subjects also supporting an application. Most practising printmakers in Ireland hold an NFQ Level 8 Honours Bachelor degree in Fine Art or Fine Art Printmaking from institutions such as NCAD, Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD at TUS), or Crawford College of Art and Design (MTU). Entry to these programmes is through the CAO and typically requires a strong portfolio alongside LC points. A QQI Level 5 or 6 PLC in Art and Design at a College of Further Education can serve as an alternative entry pathway to degree programmes. Many printmakers go on to pursue an NFQ Level 9 Masters in Fine Art to deepen their studio practice and improve prospects for academic or residency positions. There is no statutory professional registration body for printmakers, though membership of organisations such as Printmakers Ireland lends professional credibility.
Many printmakers begin their careers by establishing a studio practice immediately after graduating, exhibiting work at graduate shows and applying for Arts Council bursaries, residencies or commissions to build their profile. From there, you might develop income through a portfolio of activities: selling limited-edition prints, accepting commercial commissions, teaching part-time in further or higher education, and participating in open studio events or print fairs. With experience, some printmakers progress into full-time lecturing roles at institutions such as NCAD, LSAD or ATU, while others build reputations as established studio artists represented by galleries. Sustained engagement with national bodies such as Printmakers Ireland and the Visual Artists Ireland network is important for career development and visibility.
AI image-generation tools are increasingly used in commercial design contexts, which may reduce demand for certain illustrative or decorative printmaking commissions. However, the handmade, tactile qualities of original fine art printmaking — the physicality of an etched plate, the variance of a hand-pulled print — are valued precisely because they cannot be replicated digitally, which offers some insulation from automation. AI design software can assist printmakers in prototyping compositions or experimenting with colour separations more efficiently before committing to the physical process. Overall, the impact of AI on fine art printmaking is likely to be modest, though printmakers who also work in commercial or digital contexts will need to adapt their offer.
→ Printmaker (Current role)
Organisations in Ireland that employ people in this occupation.
Kilmainham, Dublin 8
Produces and exhibits original prints; employs studio and workshop practitioners.
Dublin 2
Specialist fine-art print studio collaborating with artists on editioned works.
Dublin 8
Publishers and printers of fine-art limited-edition prints with leading artists.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Open-access print studio offering residencies and employment for printmakers.
Wexford Town
Runs printmaking facilities and commissions resident printmakers for programmes.
Dublin 8
Employs printmaking technicians and lecturers across etching and screen-print studios.
Cork City
Hires printmaking staff to support fine-art print studios and degree programmes.
Dublin 7
Member-run open-access studio employing printmakers to manage facilities and editions.
Limerick City
Cooperative studio employing printmakers for editions, workshops and residencies.
Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin
Employs print technicians supporting screen-print and relief studios in art courses.
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