The Beauty of Ghost Prints in Monotype
This monotype ghost print (below) was very faint (below) compared to the bolder textures and contrast I got from the original monotype (see that in the process shots at the bottom of this post).
But it was still enough shape to suggest a big dog with a dane’s profile, so I added watercolor and let the pigments mingle without too much noodling.
Here’s a Tip
Trim a sheet of mat board the same size as the drafting film and slide it under your monotype.
It helps to raise the surface of the printable pigments a little higher than the press bed. This way, you don’t have to crank the pressure of the press roller quite so hard against the entire press bed – since the drafting film is no thicker than regular printing paper.
That little bit of lift also results in a lovely plate impression in your soaked and blotted paper when you pull the print.
Jump in – the Water is Fine!
Have you ever made a color monotype with Caran D’Ache water-soluble crayons?
The idea that you can print from a sheet of drafting film or mylar was a revelation to me, and I’ve been re-using the sheets over and over again for other monotype prints.
If you need a little tutorial on the basics of monotype making – take a look at this playlist on my YouTube Channel. The materials are listed in each tutorial under the video window in the “Show More” section.
If you have questions, leave them in the comments there, or here!
And be sure to give your playful side lots of room to run amuck!
Happy printing!
Belinda
Art Quote
The creation of that perfect thing we recognize as art, is given to all too few of us. When it happens, it transcends time, and is rightly included or added to the treasures that have stirred the imagination of past centuries. But art is a kind of tyrant. It came to me dressed up in wanderlust.
~Gustave Baumann (1881-1971)