Tom Hammick – Printmaker
I was commissioned by Northern Print to make a printmaking documentary as part of their 2014 Glossary exhibition.
Glossary, an ambitious group exhibition by Northern Print, invited a selection of leading printmakers to present and demonstrate the breadth of contemporary printmaking practice. As part of the project, I created a series of short films capturing the artists in their studio environments, revealing the processes, ideas, and tactile engagements that fuel their work.
This video blog features one of those films: a portrait of acclaimed painter and printmaker Tom Hammick, whose richly emotive work bridges painting, print, and poetry.
This particular printmaking documentary focuses on Hammick’s monotype process—a technique he embraces for its freedom, fluidity, and painterly resonance. It was a joy to film, not only because of the vibrant visuals and satisfying tactile mess of ink, rollers, and presses, but because Tom speaks with such visceral affection for the medium.
“I love printmaking for lots of reasons. I love the smells. I’ve always been intoxicated by the studio and all the kit.”
The film captures Hammick working in his studio, creating expressive monotypes using wood plates with distinctive grain patterns. The process is both physical and intuitive: large gestures with flat brushes, sweeping areas of colour, and the satisfying slap and roll of ink as it’s transferred. The prints come alive through the pressure of the press—“a couple of tons per square inch”—which, as Tom puts it, “bashes the image into submission.”
It was especially rewarding to see how much Hammick values the collaborative nature of printmaking compared to painting, which he describes as “very, very lonely.” In contrast, the print studio offers exchange, conversation, and a more social rhythm of making.
“When I’m stuck in painting, I can go into print. My print studio is next to my painting studio, and the two languages feed each other.”
Hammick also speaks with real insight about the emotional charge he seeks to embed in each piece. His figurative work often evokes metaphor and memory, using simple images to hint at deeper emotional states. This tension between clarity and ambiguity comes through beautifully in his monotypes, which he describes as:
“Fresh and open… otherwise it just gets really confusing and over-congested.”
For Hammick, printmaking is not just a technique, but a vital way of thinking and being:
“I make prints because I have to make them. It’s a feeling in my solar plexus. When I haven’t made them for some time, I get edgy. If printmaking’s not there, I feel less of an artist.”
This artist film was part of a wider creative collaboration with Northern Print for the Glossary exhibition. Held at their gallery and print studio in Newcastle upon Tyne, the exhibition brought together a collection of established and emerging voices in contemporary printmaking, each offering a different perspective on the possibilities of the medium. Glossarywas both a showcase and an educational resource, with live demonstrations, talks, and hands-on sessions that brought audiences closer to the tools and ideas behind the works on show.
The short documentary with Tom Hammick was shot on a Panasonic AF101 and GH2, both early micro four-thirds cameras offering a cinematic look in a lightweight form. Their compact but robust design allowed me to keep a low profile in the studio, capturing the fluid movement of the artist at work without disrupting his rhythm. My approach as a filmmaker has always been grounded in documentary storytelling, with minimal gear and a quiet presence—something especially important when filming artists in the vulnerable, messy, and often deeply personal space of making.
Over the course of filming, I was struck by Hammick’s physical connection to his tools. Watching him handle roulettes, drypoint needles, and scrapers—some delicate, others “butcher” as he calls them—offered a sensory dimension that felt both sculptural and sonic.
“They sound lovely… that whole dink you get from rolling them is just satisfying.”
It’s this tactile richness that I hoped to preserve in the final film—something beyond explanation, a kind of rhythm and reverence for the process.
Ultimately, this printmaking documentary offers a window into Tom Hammick’s world: one that is emotionally charged, materially grounded, and entirely his own. It reveals how printmaking serves not just as a complement to his painting but as a parallel and essential language.
🔗 Explore more of my artist films:
https://alanfentiman.co.uk/vimeo-videos/artist-films
📍 More about the Glossary exhibition: