I've been on an experimental printing course this term and one of the many techniques we tried out was monoprinting. I've done some monoprints in the past, which I really enjoyed, so I had a good idea of what could be achieved. Monoprinting is a form of printmaking which uses images or lines that can only be made once, unlike most printmaking, where you create multiple original prints. There are lots of different techniques you can use to create a monoprint, including painting, drawing, collage and other mark making techniques. You can use one or several techniques to build up an image on a plate (which can be anything from a piece of card to a metal or wooden plate) which you then transfer to paper by either just pressing the paper on to the plate, or you can use a press or a roller. It's a bit tricky to explain it all without photos or diagrams - I'll try and do another post to show the steps some time!
The beauty of monoprinting is in it's spontaneity and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing. The characteristic of this method is that no two prints are alike, a monoprint is a completely one off piece of art.
The prints below are my favourites from my recent monoprint experiments. To create them I mainly used a roller with a variety of coloured relief inks. I also used shapes cut from magazines, and some tissue paper collage (the technique of including collage pieces in a monoprint is also known as chine-collé).
