Monoprinting - 13th February, 2019


Today we set out to explore monoprinting - this is a form of printmaking that can only be made once, unlike most forms of printmaking which allows for multiples - block printing is an example of this - used by the printers at Stead McAlpin's 150 years ago -  where a pattern carved into a wooden block - and then repeatedly printed to make a continuous pattern.

Before we starting printing, Jac, our artist showed us an example of printed fabric from Ferguson's Print Works - which Chloe held up for us to see.

Ferguson's were textile manufacturers and printers at Holme Head from 1824 to 1991.  This had been printed for Liberty of London and was called 'Fish and Ships'.



We all had a close look at how the pattern had been created by using simple shapes and discussed how this had been printed on a rotary printer similar to the video we had watched  .....


...each colour had been printed separately by a roller and we could tell by the guide that runs down the side of the fabric how many colours had been used - we counted these and found where they had been used in the pattern.

There are many types of monoprinting and we experimented today with printing from a smooth and textured surface. 





We started with inking up a smooth glass surface and experimented with different ways of making marks into the surface using cotton buds, pieces of card and even our fingers  Some we found worked better than others!




Also we found out that if we took too long on our design, the ink had dried and our print was not clear. 

This can be annoying but is part of learning a new process and we soon realized what we needed to do to improve the prints we were getting.







Ink had dried slightly before print was made -
but great example of remembering our writing would be reversed!

 Well done Chloe.








Great examples of one colour monoprints
Monoprinting from cling film for texture   
Textured monoprint
After taking one print, we experimented adding another colours.......this worked really well...




Outcomes from a very messy creative day!  Well done everyone.

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