Monoprint

Another way is to roll up ink on a flat

surface and then draw into it with any
implement that will make a mark. This
is a subtractive method as the ink is
being wiped away to establish white
areas in the image.

1.Assemble a washable flat

surface (You can use a
mirror), Water Soluble Block
printing ink, palette knife,
print roller, pencil and paper.
2. Squeeze a line of ink onto
the mirror and roll it out
evenly until it covers an area
in a thin film. Thicker areas of
ink will leave splodges and
will pick up less detail

Tracey Emin, Robin Sez, 2002

A Monoprint is a one off, unique print

that can combine printmaking, drawing
and painting techniques.
There are a number of ways of
producing a Monoprint. But one of the
simplest ways is to roll up some ink on
a flat surface, place a piece of paper
over it gently and then draw on the
back of the paper with a hard point.
This produces the image the reverse
of the paper.

How to guide:

3. Put your paper down on

the ink as gently as possible.
Any pressure on the paper
will result in the ink being
transferred.
George Baselitz, Drinker, 1981

Monoprinting is a type of printmaking

whose true origins are unknown. Its
unique process incorporates elements of
painting and drawing, ensuring that no
two prints are exactly alike and making
editioning impossible.
Artists who have used this technique
include: Tracey Emin, Edgar Degas,
William Blake and Paul Gauguin.

4. Start drawing remember

that the finished image will
be reversed. Only touch the
paper where you want the
ink.
5. You can then lift up your
paper and your print will be
complete.

The word Simplifying means to

make something simpler. It may
make something easier to
understand. Simplification can be
done in many ways. One way to look
at simplification is to reduce the detail
of an object down to the very basic
shapes. Natural forms keep their
main characteristics even when
simplified. Another way to simplify an
object is to focus on one aspect,
such as the light and dark areas.

Simplifying

Many artists use positive and negative

space as inspiration for their work. These
are often very optical pieces which can
play tricks with our eyes.
Victor Varsarely worked in this way. His
work entitled Zebra (Below) is considered
by many to be one of the earliest examples
of Optical Art.
M.C. Escher (Left) is another artist who
has used positive and negative space in
his work.

Simplifying can give us the

opportunity to experiment with
positive and negative space.
Positive space is the
easiest to understand.
Generally, it is the space
occupied by the object.
The Negative Space is
the space around your
object. It is defined by
the edges of the positive
space.
Exercise: Draw a cross section of a piece of
fruit on black paper. Cut the shape out using
scissors. You can experiment with the cut out
on different backgrounds to get positive and
negative space.
Cut the shape out further including more
detail. Try different shapes, simplifications
and variations of the fruit.

Relief printing is the oldest form of

printmaking. The process is similar to
making and using a stamp. A design is
drawn onto something like a piece of
wood, lino or polystyrene. Then certain
areas of the design are the carved out
or indented. This creates raised areas
which can then be printed.
The ink will only take to the relief areas,
meaning an impression can be taken by
printing the block by hand or by using a
printing press.

Relief Printing

There are other ways of

introducing colour into prints,
many artists will print onto
coloured tissue paper or onto
collages which have been glued
down. This technique is often
referred to as Chine Coll a
French word which means to
glue paper.

Polyprint of a shell with Chine Coll

While relief printing is an extremely old

art form, there are many artists still
practicing it today.

Cyril. E Power The Tube Train

When an artist creates a relief print in

colour they often need to use a number
of different blocks to create a whole
image.

How to:
1) Once you have a
drawing or design in mind
you can work directly onto
the polyblock by drawing
into the surface with a biro
or sharp pencil.

2) You can make a variety of

marks into the surface so it is
always worth experimenting.
Once your drawing is complete
roll out some printing ink.

Tony Bevan Portrait

Man 1994
.

3) Move the ink roller

carefully over the
polyblock. The ink
should transfer onto the
raised areas, leaving the
other areas untouched.

4) You can then print your

polyblock onto paper by
hand. You will need to
press it down quite hard for
the image to be clear.

Etching is a process used in

Printmaking. The artist starts with a
piece of metal sheet which they
cover with a wax material to make a
ground. Then they carve or etch into
this ground using a sharp object.
Often something similar to the
pointed end of a nail.

Etching

Once the drawing is complete the

plate of metal is carefully placed into
an acid bath. The artist will time how
long the metal plate will stay in the
acid depending on what affect they
would like to create.
Peter Randall-Page - A Place of One's Own
1994Etching on paper

Randall Page, Peter (born 1954):

Untitled - etching five, 1992, printer:
Stoneman,

After the metal plate is removed from

the acid it is cleaned and then wiped
with ink. The ink holds in the areas
where the acid has bitten away
meaning that a print can be taken from
it. Often etching plates are printed onto
damp paper to help the image transfer
a little easier.

The Soldier and his Wife. Etching by Daniel

Hopfer, who is believed to have been the
first to apply the technique to printmaking

The etching technique is considered

one of the most important for
recreating old master prints and
remains widely in use today.

Peter Randall-Page is a sculptor and

printmaker who is inspired by natural
forms. The above are examples of his
etchings. He often chooses to study small
subjects such as walnuts or seeds.
You may only be able to try etching using
acid in a specialist studio or on a
Printmaking course as it does require a lot
of equipment and the acid baths.
We can however experiment with the
etching technique by using waxy materials
such as oil pastels and sharp implements
to carve in.

Screen Printing & Stenciling

Stencils have a long history and

have many uses. They were
originally invented to decorate cloth
in prehistoric times. In the 1920s
they were a popular method of book
illustration.
Andy Warhol
Bansky

A stencil is a thin sheet of material,

such as paper, plastic, or metal,
with letters or a design cut from it,
used to produce the letters or
design on an underlying surface by
applying pigment through the cutout holes in the material. The key
advantage of a stencil is that it can
be reused to repeatedly and rapidly
produce the same letters or design.
The design produced with a stencil
is also called a stencil.

Screen printing also uses a stencil process. This

technique uses a frame holding a woven mesh
which supports the stencil. Stencils can be made
with one or many colour layers using different
techniques, with most stencils designed to be
applied as solid colours. During screen printing
the images for stenciling are broken down into
color layers. Multiple layers of stencils are used
on the same surface to produce multi-colored
images.

Stencils have also become popular

for graffiti, since stencil art using
spray-paint can be produced quickly
and easily. They are also frequently
used in home decoration and arts
and crafts as well as clothing and
textile manufacturing.
An artist who uses
stenciling to create his
graffiti work is Banksy.
Credit is generally given
to the artist Andy
Warhol for popularizing
screen printing in the
United States.

A Collagraph print is a collage

printmaking technique. A collagraph
employs basic principles of relief
printing and can be printed in the same
way; by using a press or by hand. The
term collagraph refers to a collage
board where the materials are
assembled on a flat base or plate to
form a relief block with different surface
levels and textures.

Collagraphy

Collagraph plates are created by

sticking and gluing materials like
textured paper or fabric onto the plate
and then coat it with varnish or PVA
glue afterwards to protect the
materials.

Texture Examples:
You can use paint, glue, leaves, fabric
and almost anything with texture that are
flat enough to not rip the paper when you
print it.
The materials you apply to the plate will
determine the tone and strengths of the
ink, and will also give you a variation of
textures.
Collagraph printmaking can be a very
interesting way of working mainly
because of the many different effects that
can be created and the great variation in
texture you can get from using different
materials.

Different types of paper and cardboard.

Eg. Tissue paper, crepe paper and
japanese paper. The paper can be ripped
up or cut and glued on to cover areas in
the design.
Acrylic paints and acrylic textures.
Glosspaint and varnish.
Different brush strokes will create a
variation of texture.
Other interesting materials can be string,
tread, fabric, leafs, peas, rice and
masking tape.