Color Monotype Print without a Press

Making a color monotype print without a press is officially addictive. (You can see in the two previous posts here, and here that I’ve been on a sprint with these fun, painterly prints.)

There are monotype print sequence steps in several photos below. And can I please recommend you give this printmaking process a try?

In case you’re not a printmaker, and/or you’re sick of monotypes, I’ve added some fun non-printy links for you at the bottom of this post.

Pulling the first set of colors from a sheet of recycled plastic after rubbing the back of the paper with a wood baren.

Adding a layer of purple-ly mountains and space for palm trees in the background.

A layer of taupe ink for the concrete jetty and a narrow swath of warmer greens in the background

Adding a darker blue to the water, texture on the jetty, a few palm tree suggestions, and some orange construction equipment behind the fencing

Each new layer gets more detailed while wiping the rolled on ink into shapes and printing them on top of the previous inks. Larger shapes to smaller ones. That’s the mojo you’re aiming for.

A darker veil of color over the background to push it back into space, and a few pops of color. Getting close.

Untied – a color monotype print created in subsequent layers, transferred from plexiglass to paper without a press, using a wooden baren. And just like the monotype prints in the previous two posts, these were created in a tiny corner of my studio, using half of my press bed as a table. That means you can make these on a small counter or table too.

Untied – 8×10 Color Monotype Print – *Available in my Etsy shop here*

Richeson International is hosting an online art competition for Still Life and Floral art with great prizes. If you’re interested in submitting your work, check out the show prospectus here.

Winsor & Newton featured a watercolor artist named August Sandstrom in their newsletter this month. I hadn’t heard about him, but I like his work. In case he’s new to you too, you can read about his watercolors here.

Author Steven Kotler explains how the psychology of Flow State can be nurtured and triggered for the best creativity performance in your life. Here is a 7 minute video about how flow state works.

Printing without a Press

If you are trying to make monotypes without a press, this method of successive layering of color works very well if you have smooth paper, a good baren, and nice ink.

Several of my friends have had good luck trying this process with stay-open (slow-drying) acrylic paint. Don’t be afraid to experiment. That is one of the baselines of printmaking. You just keep going.

I’ve got a few more color monotypes in the works, so stay tuned (you can subscribe to get these posts via email here).

I’ll see you in the next post!

Belinda

P.S. Another non-printy thing: do you know about the visible mending movement and sashiko stitching? I’m new to everything stitchy, and I’m having a great time stitching and repairing my entire closet.

Repairing a tear in my very old and much-loved LLBean Big Shirt with random colors of embroidery floss.

Art Quote

The aim of life is self-development. To realize one’s nature perfectly — that is what each of us is here for.
Oscar Wilde

Color Monotype Print without a Press