Contact Printing

 A couple of weeks ago I was excited to take part in a Zoom workshop on contact printing, a simple and straightforward technique of making monoprints that has somehow managed to elude me. The workshop was put on by Graphic Studio Dublin (which has also been hosting fabulous artist talks every Friday morning) and facilitated by artist Clare Henderson who had sent out materials packs in advance of the workshop. Although I had tried this technique before, I was never able to get good results so was really looking forward to actual instruction to help me come to grips with it. As with other remote workshops that I have taken over lockdown, I commandeered the kitchen for a workspace. 

The materials pack included a new roller, azua ink, magneisum powder, spreaders, an acetate plate and sheets of newsprint as well as various sheets of fine Japanese printing paper. Participants were asked to bring rags, bowl of water, a variety of mark-making tools and masking tape.

 

The instructions were clear and straightforward: attach the fine paper to the acetate, cover with the newsprint, roll out azua ink on the acetate plate, fold the paper over the ink, cover with the newsprint and make marks on the newsprint. The pressure marks made on the newsprint would lift the ink from the acetate plate to create the monoprint. There was a beautiful additional light background texture that the paper would pick up from the rolled ink where pressure hadn't been applied. This is my first test print.

For my second test print I worked larger and only used a few mark-making tools (pencil and some stamps)/

I couldn't believe how quickly the time went by, but I definitely got an understanding of the process. Here is my workspace towards the end of the workshop. I didn't need to use the magnesium powder but Clare Henderson went over its use and demonstrated how to mix it with the azua if the ink was not viscous enough.

Clare Henderson specifically recommended azua inks when I asked about using other water-based inks. However, I did not want to go out and buy a new set of inks when I already have large tubs of Speedball ink, which I use for lino and wood block prints. I have found Speedball inks infinitely superior to other lino inks that I have attempted to use so I wanted to try them out on contact prints. Here is the contact print I made using Speedball ink and I am very happy with the results! I used a pencil and a hard eraser to make the marks.

Fever Afterimages - Monoprints

Over the past few weeks in the studio (when I wasn't in the south of France) I have been experimenting with monoprints, working out some compositions for Fever Afterimages. Using Speedball water-soluble ink (black to keep it simple!) I started out using the smallest glass plate, 7.5 cm x 12.5 cm, and plastic tool to scrape away the lines from the ink.

Here is another sample:

I decided I didn't have enough space to play around, so moved on to the largest plate I have to hand, a piece of plexi-glass 13.5 cm x 21.5 cm.

Still using a plastic modelling tool to create the lines.

I decided to use a small eraser to create various lines:

I worked with the eraser to see what textures I could get:

Using an eraser to get some of the main lines, then I used a plastic modelling tool to draw lines on the back of the print as I was rubbing it with the wooden spoon:

A few nights ago I had an idea to use cut out bits of paper placed on the inked plate to create my compositions. I decided to use my medium sized plate for the following pieces, a glass piece 10 cm x 15 cm. I decided to use the more textured watercolour paper for these

 I have located 2 small pieces of prepped wood and acquired 3 small canvases so will soon start painting using colour!