Mono-printing

January 27, 2010

This semester I am taking a class called mono-print. The process is quite simple, but completely new to me and a lot of fun. You paint a special type of paint on thin fiberglass using a variety of tools. You then take your damp watercolor type paper and use a press to make your print from your painted plate. What is neat about these is your print is completely unique. Because you do not etch anything or make a stamp, once the ink has been pressed to paper, thats it. You can make a lighter version by running it though again which is called a ghost, but it is usually used as an under layer for a different idea. 

Today I finished my first print! It took me two more layers on the first print of a raven I did in the second class. This print was primarily for experimenting, but I think it turned out pretty neat. Like usual, the idea evolved as I did it. I originally was going to only print the raven, but the first print turned out so dark, I needed a background to make it pop. I remembered seeing a raven in the road a while ago, picking the remains of old road kill and though that would be some fun textures to work with. I ended up with a little gruesome but interesting print. I like it :). If you have never had any experience with printing I highly recommend a class. It is a very flexible and unique medium that is a lot of fun to mess around with. I still have two more prints of the basic bird shape, so check back to see how those evolve!

As always, check out the gallery for more art at foundmyself.com/gallery/nikkiandsimon. I am going to upload some older art today as well as the raven. I am hoping to get the web site up soon, but we are waiting for some extra money to come in first. All of our bills are at the very first of the month, so we are always tight on funds around this time. Thank you everyone for your support and see you tomorrow! 338 more days!!!