Part 1:Project 1: Day 4 Monoprinting

I started the session by rereading the project brief. In the past few days I have played around with colour combinations and different papers but not with the composition. In the initial still life set up the singer statuette appeared to be affronted by the presence of the Buddha’s head. I decided to turn them both around so that they faced one another.

I’m finding Monoprinting to be a bit hit and miss. But at the same time I am learning a lot from the experimentation. Due to a poor sleep pattern, I had a late start today and attempted to cut a corner by using primary colours as well as green straight from the tubes. The resulting print is not the most successful ever. I keep forgetting (perhaps due to the copper coloured plate) that un-inked areas will be blank white on the final print. I need to learn that the lightest areas need to be left without ink, so that they remain white.

I did, at least, find a reliable method for laying the paper onto the plate in such a way as to achieve a centred, well-aligned print. This was achieved by lining up the topmost edge of the paper just above the the top edge of the plate and slowly rolling it down onto the plate, rather than placing it onto the plate and hoping for the best.

I could have ended up with a more successful outcome had I used yellow ink instead of the muddy colour (red and blue mixed) when defining the texture of the open pine cone so that its outline was discernible from the background of the block supporting the Buddha’s head.

I tried using the other end of the brush to draw into the ink in the background as well as for added texture on the pine cone. This I shall do again.

What to remember for tomorrow:

• Try a different colour plate (perspex, plastic or even a white tile?)
• Leave well lit areas blank
• Start earlier in the day
• Don’t cut corners
• Mix colours ready for application
• Continue using paper line-up method to achieve centralised print
• Be aware of the necessity of colour and tonal contrast when applying ink to the plate

Enough for today.