In the printmaking class I was substituting for recently, we worked on a series of monoprints. Monoprints are fine art prints that are painted (inked, drawn, what-have-you) on a sheet of plastic or metal, and then transferred to damp paper by laying the paper face down on the sheet and running it through a printing press (or for at home-ers, rubbing the back with a smooth object or rolling pin). Although you can often do more than one print from the same plate depending on what is left on the plate after your first pressing, each print will differ and thus every monoprint will be completely unique.
This is my ‘on-the-fly’ monoprint.. I had an idea in my head that I was sketching out for something else, and this is what ended up on my plexiglas plate. I used a combination of acrylic water based printmaking ink and black oil pastels to draw, paint, and stamp the image. I really enjoy the way that colors can be layered on the plate to produce the texture in the paint that you see below.
Although it’s often hard to move away from cut paper, I really enjoy exploring and experimenting with different mediums from time-to-time.