Mixed Media Printmaking Blog

Thermofax prints for texture

2010, mixed media printmaking / Linda Germain / November 1, 2015

I love lots of layers in a mixed media print. I like to draw the viewer in for a closer look into the layers of marks that make up the whole print.

Screen printing with the thermo fax screen is great for times when you want to make lot’s of impressions of the same design. So today I played with 17 small prints and 4 book spreads and one spirograph screen.

Thermo fax screens are good for line drawings and details that you can’t get with other types of screen printing. I made this spirograph drawing, photocopied it and then burned a screen with my 3M transparency maker.

You only need a couple of screens to get started playing with this method of screen printing. I put together a kit of

8 untaped screens, as shown below and
access to a lesson and 4 videos to prepare the screens,
pull prints, ideas for surfaces to print on and
how to care for your screen.

8 piece Thermofax Screen starter kit with Pulling Screen Prints the online printmaking course with Linda Germain — 8 piece Thermofax Screen starter kit – images as shown – untaped

To get your screens just click the paypal button and I will ship them to you asap.

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Unconventional printmaking tools

tools / Linda Germain / October 21, 2015

Have you discovered some unique mark making tools? If you love to make indirect marks and you do not have a printing press, then you probably are quite creative in your use of unconventional tools for making prints.

Today I used:

the copier to make prints of old typewriter notes and
Coffee and a cup to stain the prints

I plan to print over these paper with the gelatin print process. I like building papers with marks and history. It gives the print layers of information that draw the viewer in.

What about you? Are you open to finding new tools or using your thoughts and words to build papers with rich history?

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Limit printing tools and Make Monotypes

monotype print / Linda Germain / October 20, 2015

I have collected lots of stamping tools and made many stencils for creating monotype prints with the glycerin and gelatin plate. Sometimes too many tools can be overwhelming.

By limiting my tools I can:

really explore the potential marks of that stencil or stamp
learn how to manipulate the ink for that tool
find exciting surprises
create compositions that are dynamic

So for me, I spend time exploring tools and their best uses and then there is time to print a series of monotypes.

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Print with stencils and the gelatin plate

monotype print / Linda Germain / October 19, 2015

How do you get started on a new series of prints?

Just jump in?
Plan it all out?
Start with what you know?
Try something new?
Set limits?
Create goals or expectations?

I have probably tried them all, expect “plan it all out.” I guess the main thing is that somehow I get started making prints. Once the ink is rolling and the brayer spinning, then the magic will start to happen.

Enjoy a short video.