Simple and collaged, one way to play with small relief prints.

I made a series of small prints and combined them to complete a larger print.

These expressive and abstract lines were inspired by my trip to the museum and a Josef Albers print.

Working small is a good idea when printing without a press. Small makes it easier to ink and print the plates.

Sometime simple shapes and open spaces lend interest to a powerful print.

Gather up some foam and join me in the online printmaking class, Soft Plate Relief Printing. Class starts soon. Read the details on the printmaking workshop page.

I like printing more than making printing plate. Often carving a relief plate takes lots of planning and time. That is why I like making soft foam relief plates. They are fast and can be spontaneous.

There are just a couple of key tools that you need to get started with soft foam relief plate printing foam and mark making tools.

I like to recycle foam produce containers. But some folks cannot seem to find them, so 2 good alternatives are sticky back foam and scratch foam board.

You can find sticky back foam sheets at craft stores and the scratch foam board at art supply stores. Each type of foam has a different kind of mark.

The sticky back foam is often nice and smooth and will make a smoother impression than the recycled foam trays. And the scratch foam is in between those two.

The different foam hold the line drawings differently too.

I like using the sticky back foam to make simple abstract prints like the one above. I have learned to appreciate the kind of mark that naturally occurs with these plates. I embrace the mottled uneven impression.

I like to combine the best qualities of the tools to make monotype prints with several different blocks.

The newest tool that I have come to love is the embossing stylus.  I got a set of 3 for around $10.00 and I love how they impress a line into the different foams.

The ball tip rolls across the surface and creates a nice consistent line.

I think that one of the things that makes soft foam relief printing interesting is to vary the line type and quality. So I like to use lots of tools to make that happen.

You can use water color to make colorful white line images.

And you can print on fabric too!

You can join the online printmaking workshop, Soft Plate Relief Printing. Read all the details on the workshop page.

I use low tech and non-toxic ways of printing like, relief printing and gelatin plate monotype printmaking.

These processes are easily accessible in a home based studio. And they are great ways to get into printmaking with out needing a big studio or press.

For that reason, many people who have not made prints before often break into printmaking with some of these methods. Inks and brayers are often a new expense and tool.

That is why I want to take a moment and explain why using the right inks and brayers for a particular printmaking process make the process a little easier.

• Inks are designed to be wet and workable for a longer period of time than acrylic paint.
• Inks are designed to be rolled out and worked with a brayer
• Inks have stickiness that lends them to in indirect nature of printmaking

Printmaking is an indirect method of mark making. This means that the ink is often applied to a plate and then pressed on to the paper. Compared to a more direct approach in painting when the paint goes directly from brush to canvas.

Things to consider when choosing an ink:

• Oil or water based? Water is much easier to work with and often a good choice for home based printing
• Printing on paper or fabric? Ink made for your substrate will always work best. Fabric ink often needs to be more fluid
• Ease of clean up
• Cost and ability to use the inks for your other projects

That last factor is why many newbies want to use acrylic paint. The trouble with many acrylic craft paints is that they are too fluid to hold the mark and dry too fast to make the transfer of ink.

However, some kinds of impressions are possible with acrylic craft paint you just need to work fast and know the limits of the paint.

I often advise that you buy a tube of black ink that is specifically designed for the process and the right kind of brayer.  That way you can test out the process before you invest in a new line of inks.

For example, I like the speedball water based block printing ink for relief printing and gelatin monotype printmaking. It stays alive and workable. Which makes it easy to transfer from plate to paper.

If you would like to explore relief printing with soft foam plates and water based inks, then check out the details and join us in the online printmaking workshop.