monotype print

This past week my art making pulled me into the present moment and even out of a grumpy mood.

I was surprised!

You may do yoga and meditation to quiet the mind and to get into the present moment. I try these activities every so often but they have not become a natural habit yet.

So maybe for artists like us, our art making is our mediation. I do use a printmaking process to get warmed up for gelatin printmaking.

I call it Yoga Printmaking.  It is all about building muscle memory and not about perfect prints.

Try Yoga Printmaking

• follow my voice and keep printing
• focus on the simple repetitive steps,
• build muscle memory,
• get to know the steps of gelatin printmaking.

This kind of warm up is good for getting into the flow of printmaking if you have been away from it for awhile.

Check out the current online workshops.

Gelatin Printmaking is

• low tech with beautiful results
• non-toxic and easy to clean up
• immediate feedback and results

What does that mean for you?

You can explore printmaking at home with out a printing press and still be excited about the prints you pull. You can even do it with your grandkids or other artist friends.

If you are interested in developing your compositional skills, then you may want to try gelatin printing. Pulling prints is so fast that you know immediately if your design and compositions are working.

You quickly learn about:

• division of space
• leading the viewer around your print
• variety and repetition of marks and images

I find there is a dynamic balance between play and guided discovery when making gelatin prints. This makes learning fast and fun.

If you have not tried gelatin printmaking yet, then do it today! Get the free recipe for the long lasting gelatin and glycerin plate.

If you would like help getting started, then join us in the an online printmaking class.

Recently I attended a Book Arts Intensive and during the usual introductions I described myself as an online printmaking instructor.

The number one question was: How is it possible to learn ART through an online course?

If you have ever watched a YouTube video to learn how to do something, then I bet that you can learn art making through an online course as well.

The way that I teach printmaking online is:

• Break the techniques into little manageable steps
• Give you short actionable videos to get you printing a lot
• Put the instructions and videos in a private website for my students
• Send you regular emails with links and encouragement
• Invite the students to post, share and ask questions in a private Facebook Group
• Give feedback and answer questions in the Facebook Group

Why this format of learning to make prints works?

• You take the class in your own home or studio
• You fit it into your schedule
• You pause and watch the videos as much as you want
• You can ask questions and get help just like in an in-person class
• You will have all the tools and supplies to continue your new skill
• It is convenient and affordable.
• You are able to get much more skill building over time

If you would like to try out some online learning you could try out my free gelatin and glycerin plate recipe for making the monotype plate.

You asked for it!

I am happy to deliver a comprehensive 15 lesson self-study of gelatin printmaking with ink, the homemade gelatin and glycerin plate and paper.

1. Finding supplies
2. Making the gelatin and glycerin plate
3. Mastering your inks
4. Making and discovering tools and
5. Pulling 100’s of impressions and hopefully
6. Completing and displaying many beautiful prints

Check out the details on the Printmaking Class page.

Right now we are in the middle of the Monoprinting Fabric printmaking course. One of the projects that we do is cover a journal with some of our hand printed fabric.

I love the soft feel of a fabric covered journal. I do my morning pages in a composition style notebook everyday. So I go through a lot of journals.

I primed the journal with gesso, so the design on the original cover would not show through the fabric.

I like to add some simple hand stitching to the fabric before I attach it to the journal.