monotype print

We still have plenty of time to plan and join the global community of printmakers for Print Day in May.

Print Day in May began in 2007 at the Monterey Peninsula College (MPC), Monterey, CA. The MPC Fine Art Print Club (now the MPC Printmakers) created it to encourage printmakers everywhere to create prints on the same day . . . an all-inclusive printmaking effort! Join the MPC Printmakers, and make some prints during Print Day in May!

You can get into the international event:

• Register for free on their website
• plan a print day with your print buddies
• get psyched about and share your passion on social media with the #printdayinmay

I often think about the line quality of different printmaking techniques. The word quality may be misleading.

Sometimes the word quality refers to good or bad. But that is not how I am using it, when I talk about the line quality in artwork.

Maybe character of line would be more accurate. I am talking about:

• thick – thin
• smooth – jagged
• expressive – loose
• sharp – mechanical

It is also about the expressive nature of the line and the feel or emotions it evokes.

A line can vary in thickness, length, shape, color, value and direction. Lines often help lead the viewer around the artwork.

In my practice of printmaking without a press, I explored different methods of printing that allow for and create marks of different line quality.

The different lines in these gelatin prints were created by the different tools that I used to produce the mark. For example the “bubbly” like lines were offset printed with a mop head.

Trace monoprinting is all about the fuzzy line quality that is made on the back side of the paper to transfer the ink to the paper. Ohh I love that fuzzy line and I am not sure you could get that kind of mark any other way.

In soft plate relief printing, I search for tools to make lines with a wide range of characteristics. In the print above, I used pens, container caps, weeds, twigs, pattern wheel and masking stencils. I think I love turning found objects into printmaking tools.

I hope I have given you a new way to think about line in your artwork.

I am happy to share with you that it is possible to make large sized prints even with small relief plates.

This is a panoramic picture of my studio wall today. The soft plate relief prints on the left are 16″ x 20″ and a variety of sizes down to 4″ square on the right.

In this image you can see can see the different styles of marks that are possible with soft foam relief plates:

1. Line drawings
2. Bold shapes
3. Water color painterly marks
4. Mottled texture of the plate

I am sure that you can make this technique your own. I think the key is to make lots of plates and prints.

I have piles and piles of plates and a few that are my favorites. One challenge can be finding foam, especially if the grocers in your area do not use foam plates for food storage.

There are 2 art supply options, sticky back craft foam and scratch art board. Each type of foam holds a line differently and transfers ink in a different consistency. Experimentation with the tools that are available to you will allow you to develop your own style of relief printing. More about supplies here.

I would love to share what I know with you and help you explore soft plate relief printing.

Read all the details on the printmaking workshop page and join us today.

Even with low tech printmaking processes, the resulting impression varies quite a bit.

I have been playing with soft plate relief prints and the process of making a mark is much slower that gelatin printmaking, but the style of print cannot be attained with the gel print process.

The gray and black images above are relief prints made with soft foam plates and black and sepia image is a gel print. The each have a different feel.

When I get into relief printing mode, I simply and get more graphic. Where as my gel prints can be more fluid and textural.

For me gelatin printing is fast and spontaneous. I can pull a lot prints in a short period of time. I like that!

I use trace monoprinting techniques when I want an expressive loose line drawing.

When I am trying to get flat uniform layers, I use screen printing processes.

If I want to get a detailed, fine line impression I use an emulsion style screen.

So even if you are printmaking at home without a fancy studio, it is possible to make many different kinds of prints.

The magic happens when you take some of the techniques and combine them with bookmaking, drawing or collage.

Happy printing!

One way to approach a day of gelatin printmaking is to grab 3 stencils and a stack of paper and print with abandon.

I did that with a bird, branch and moon stencil. Enjoy the evolution of a series of prints.

I like to keep it simple and make tiny changes in ink or stencils or placement. Those tiny changes can make a big impact.

If you would like to explore gelatin printmaking with me, then join us in the online printmaking class, Make Monotypes .

It is a 4 week class in which we will print with ink on paper, using the gelatin plate.