Planning my U.S. trip has meant that I haven’t had much time to print. In fact, until the last couple of weeks, I hadn’t printed anything for the previous two months. However, it has given me a chance to think about some new directions for my practice. One of those is monoprinting. Research for my visit threw up some interesting practitioners who have held recent workshops there, including Kate McGloughlin, mentioned above.
Her monoprints, particularly those created using a brayer/roller have a spontaneity that really appeals to me. Also, monoprints of course, by their nature, are very quick to produce. This method chimes with my own largely unplanned approach to printmaking.
So, here are some of my latest experiments…
Most interesting was the inconsistent mixing of the two inks. This produced the stippling effects you can see. This type of ‘viscosity printing’ can be controlled more precisely by adding specific amounts of solvents to the inks. However, I really like the unpredictable nature of the mark-making.
Monoprinting has opened my eyes to different ways of doing printmaking. I think that the technique will complement my collagraphs quite nicely and will always be something I can turn to for some quick experimentations.
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