monotype print

Fall is a good time to find thin sturdy grasses for printing with the gelatin plate.

When you are looking for good grasses and weeds to use as masking stencils look for:

• very flat
• very thin
• good spaces between the branches
• size that will work well with your plate
• sturdy – so it does not fall apart on your plate

I always gather 3 to 5 pieces of different sizes, so I can have some variety and repetition with my imagery.

The grass above has very interesting branches, but it was pretty fragile. So I probably will only get a few uses with it before it falls apart. I printed the image on long strips of paper. This is one way to vary a simple impression – change the paper size.

Another way you can make a simple impression interesting is to embrace and use the brayer marks as part of the design.

If you would like to transform some of your prints into gifts and you would like some help, then sign up for the online class Printed Gifts. It is available to you right now. This gives you plenty of time to make some holiday gifts.

Read the details on the printmaking workshop page.

I love that gelatin printmaking makes printmaking accessible to folks who:

• don’t have a printing press
• have little experience
• want to explore printmaking at home

You can see the basic moves in this short video.

• water based ink
• gelatin and glycerin plate
• stencils, like the ferns above
• paper stencils and
• found stencils like feather
• stamping tools to lift and apply ink
• drawing paper

You will have plenty of time to explore and experiment. I hope to see you on October 14th at the Museum of Printing. Claim your space today – click here for details and to register.

This is a palette with some ink and brayers ready for printing with the gelatin plate.

This image shows the 2 basic styles of impressions that you can make with stencils and stamping tools and the gelatin plate. On the right is the dark blue “shaped impression”. It is the shape to the grasses in white.  I call the print on the left, the detailed impression. This is because it captures the details that the grass made in the ink.

And these are all made quite quickly with mere hand pressure.

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This Saturday is a great day to come to Haverhill, Massachusetts.

The Museum of Printing is FREE ADMISSION on Museum Live Day and having a Print Fest!

A Great Day for Kids and Families

• See presses from the 1880s
• Get a slug from a Linotype, the 8th wonder of the world
• Type on an actual typewriter
• See “ancient” computers
• Print a name in metal type

And I will be there with my gelatin printmaking process. Come see what gelatin printing is all about. You will be amazed! And I will also have some prints for sale.

This video is about my online course, but the images and process is the same that I will be doing a the Print Fest. If it looks interesting to you, then I hope you stop by the Museum of Printing this Saturday, 10 to 4. It’s FREE!

I have made several small sketchbooks, that I can easily carry with me. They are only 16 pages long, so they are very easy to complete.

I love the ability to finish the book quite quickly. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and that makes me want to start the next book.

If I really don’t like a drawing, then I just glue a fresh piece of paper over the parts that I don’t like. So I don’t worry about ugly drawings or mistakes.

I am thinking that maybe I will bind some of the small books into a larger book. For now I am just having some fun drawing the every day like:

• breakfast
• tea pots
• pens and drawing tools
• farmers market
• skylines and
• scenes from my window

I did buy a new watercolor set and it is taking some getting used to. The paint is much richer than my grade school set that I had been using.

Happy creating!