Monoprinting

Today I did monoprinting with my students, trying out something new for both of us. I've done it before with oil based monoprint paint and a press, so I was curious to try out the water based monoprint paint I had ordered. Happily after a few trials I got a very cool result, to which I added pastels for more detail. Since I don't have thick printmaking paper, I used watercolor paper which worked nicely but did show a lot of the texture from the paper= which can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it.

I first did a thin layer of monoprint base on a piece of plexiglass, and waited for it to dry.
I then did a painting, using thick layers with not too much water, on the plexiglass and also waited for it to dry. (the drying part is time consuming).
I kept a piece of paper in a shallow bucket of water and pulled it out and patted it dry with a paper towel.
I then took the damp piece of paper and positioned it on the piece of plexiglass and used a baron to evenly rub the paper over the painting, and slowly took it off.

Happily, there was still a ghost image on the piece of plexiglass, so I was able to reuse the painting and change it for the better- more blue there, more paint here, etc.

Since it was plexiglass, I was also able to use a drawing for reference underneath the glass as a jumping off point, a good way for the kids to try something in a non- threatening way.