monotype print Archives - Linda Germain

The Woods Inspires Mark Making

monotype print / Linda Germain / March 4, 2025

Trees are one of my go to subjects. They are easy to abstract and fun to create.

I get my inspiration from my walks in the woods, but I also see amazing old trees every where.

I can be fun to try to capture the likeness of that favorite tree.

Sometimes I get close and notice the texture of the bark and things growing there, moss, ivy, bittersweet, and the like.

The look and feel of the tree changes with the seasons. Winter offers bare branches and monochromatic color. In the spring I notice fresh green and red buds fill the branches. Summer is a lush canopy of greens. And the Fall can be a riot of brilliant colors.

I have wanted to capture “that” tree in all of its seasons, but just have not done it yet.

This admiration of trees lead me to create the Torn Tree Workshop. It is about making abstract forests with simple printmaking and drawing techniques. This month of March I am offering this 12 lesson class for only $50. USD. Check out the details.

I like to combine my woods walks and my art inspiration.

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Start the new year with gelatin printmaking

monotype print / Linda Germain / December 30, 2024

I invite you to join me in the online class, the Gelatin Print Project.

I feel that one way to build printmaking skills is to pull a lot of prints. And the immediacy of gelatin printmaking lends itself to making lots of prints very quickly. In this class we will build layers on light and delicate base prints.

You will learn how to get the most from your impressions, layering and combining:

shaped impressions
detailed impressions
spot pick ups
light ghost impressions

Read all the details on the workshop page. Class starts January 10th, 2025.

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Join Me – New Class – stamp making

artist book, collage, combined techniques, monotype print, sketchbook ideas, stamping tools / Linda Germain / October 14, 2024

I am excited about the new class that starts October 25th. This class is about:

Making small stamps out of sticky backed foam
Slipknot book form
a gelatin print lesson and
a bit of collage

I love this combination of techniques. There is something for everyone. So you can choose a focus that fits your interest at this time.

The slipknot binding is great for sketchbooking, because it can be flipped and folded to always lie flat. It takes a bit of thread management to link the pages together, but it is a pretty easy book form.

I am including a gelatin print session so you will have prints to respond to with collage and stamping.

The collage lesson is just to get beyond the blank page.

Read all the details and join us in Stamp Making + Mixed Media Book Workshop.

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Make unique fabric for your projects

fabric prints, gelatin prints on fabric, monotype print / Linda Germain / August 6, 2024

I have piles of hand printed fabric. I have actually stopped making more until I use up some of what I already have.

I have made a few quilts and now have more quilts than I can use.

I covered some bricks with hand printed cloth to use as book weights. I do use these quite a bit and I think 6 big book weights is enough for my little studio.

I used heat-n-bond to transform some of the monoprinted fabric into book cloth. The heat-n-bond is applied to the fabric then thin rice paper is stuck to the other side. This creates a barrier so the glue does not seep through the fabric. Then I covered a few artists books.

I love composition notebooks. I covered a few with the hand printed fabric.

I love bags. I am definitely a bag lady. And yet surprisingly I have only stitched up one little shoulder bag. I think a big beach bag may be my next project.

If you are wanting to make some unique hand printed fabric, then check out the workshop, Monoprinted Fabric.

I am offering a 25% discount on this class for the next few weeks. It is a comprehensive class with 12 different techniques for gelatin printing on fabric.

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Exploring cyanotypes

monotype print, techniques / Linda Germain / May 23, 2024

I my Simplify – Gelatin Prints class, I teach a mock cyanotype technique.

I love the mixture of black and cyan ink. I think it produces some nice rich impressions. Delicate weeds and intricate cut glass are good tools for this process.

But today I made a few real cyanotype prints. I have been collecting inspiration online and have a list of approaches that I want to try. It does take some planning and preparation.

I mixed the chemicals 24 hours earlier.
Then I painted the mixture on to the papers
Wait for them to dry in a darkroom

Luckily, I had a bright sunny day. I started with few grasses and a test strip. I exposed a little more paper every minute, for a total of 5 minutes. The pale blue was exposed for 1 minute direct bright sun. And the dark blue at the bottom was exposed for 5 minutes

I had prepared a digital negative of a photograph. My printer is low on toner and the black areas were a bit transparent, so I underexposed the print so I would not lose all the detail. I am pretty pleased with the result.

The light is always changing and different tools block the light differently too. I really wanted to do a glass cast shadow. I first attempt fail, not enough shadow. As time passed the shadows got longer. Second try much better.

I even tried printing on a rock.

I will continue to play with the cyanotype process. If you would like to explore my mock cyanotype process, then check out the details of the class Simplify – Gelatin Printmaking.

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