MONOPRINTS

Most of my monoprints were originally made in the 70s and 80s.

EQUIPMENT

Ink Roller [rubber compound]
Platen
Printer's Inks
Paper
Indian Inks [inc. white]
Spray diffuser


The process was as follows:-

[1] The glass platen was inked up with printers’ ink.

I made my own printing blocks. This one was made from a square mirror glued to an old wooden bread board. I saved money by using only black ink.

[2] The paper was placed carefully on the inked plate.

Any [preferably low glaze] paper can be used including odd wallpaper rolls.

[3] the design was drawn on the front of the wallpaper [the coloured side]. The plain side was placed on the inked block.

Drawing has to be done without too much hesitancy and with smooth clear strokes with an almost vertical pen [ballpoints are best for this]. Care must be taken not to rest the heel of the hand on the paper – the pressure will show up as a large ugly black mark. Please note that the circles were made by pressing a cup onto the paper, and the straight lines using a small ruler in the same way.

[4] The basic process was completed using white ink for the highlights

[5] when the ink was dry the picture was sprayed, using a mouth sprayer, with Indian inks [red, yellow, green etc] to give an overall background colour.

These spray diffusers cost very little. They are made of two narrow metal tubes hinged at right angles. The slightly longer tube is placed in the bottle of ink, and the smaller tube has a mouthpiece. Blow steadily and a fine spray of ink will be propelled onto the paper.