Wednesday 9 January 2013

Experimenting with monoprinting


monoprint


New toys! Don't you just love them? I've treated myself to some new printing inks. I have previously been using oil paint which works up to a point but I'm too impatient to wait for them to dry. These shiny new inks are Schmincke waterbased lino inks. I'm just starting with a few colours and I haven't got any transparency medium as I am hoping that some of the screen printing medium that I have already will suffice. Fingers crossed as I have a huge tub of it. The colours that I chose were titanium white, indian yellow, vermillion red (just a small tube as I don't use red too often), cyan, prussian blue and burnt sienna.



monoprint with added ink, coloured pencil and watercolour



I inked up some of the vermillion red and indian yellow and got stuck in. Firey hot colours for the grey day that we are having. A quick line drawing to loosen up. I love the soft diffused line of this technique. The inks are much, much more fluid than I was expecting, I thought they would be tackier so I think they will take a little time to get used to.


Once the ink was dry I thought I would work into the print with some other media. This experiment could well be a starting point for a painting in the future. Whilst I wouldn't say I was happy with all aspects, particularly the colours, there are elements that could be experimented with further. The soft fluid character of line that you get with monoprint and the diffused texture is interesting. It's also reminded me how I like to work with more graphic imagery sometimes. I'm starting to really enjoy this month on experimenting.


5 comments:

Vandy said...

It's great experimenting with new materials. I've got so much to explore. I hadn't thought about using printing inks, but I like what you've done here. Thanks for sharing this, Lisa.

Bruce Sherman said...

Hi there Lisa!... "Playing" again... I see... and with some very striking results I might add!


A wonderfully abstract feel... but your controlled use of line and colour... colour "lift a print"... pun intended which is exquisite to explore area by area! "Simply"...A gem!

Good Painting and Printmaking!
Warmest regards,
Bruce

vivien said...

This is looking good. Screenprinting was my least favourite because of its flatness - but these are going well and don't have that deadening flatness. Watching with interest .....

I'm really fancying trying to work out how to get some of my recent ipad stuff onto etching plates and thinking of the expense of using our local print workshop. Membership, fees per hour and materials vs some beautiful printing presses.

eM said...

Very interesting technique I haven´t try a graphics yet but I like it. I like the soft colors you have used.

Lisa Le Quelenec said...

Hi Vandy, thank you. There are too many possibilities and too little time isn't there? I'm enjoying this month of play, I think it's going to be most worthwhile.

Hello Bruce, thanks. This one has been good fun.

Hi Vivien, thank you. I've been following your ipad experiments with great interest. I can see so many possibilities with digital printing combined with more traditional techniques in the same piece. I think a lot of what you have been doing lends itself to printmaking.
The price of presses is such a bind. It's one of the first things I would buy if I won the lottery - I would love to do some collograph prints again. (*note to self - buy a lottery ticket ;o) )

Hi Marcela, thank you. It's so cold and grey I'm feeling drawn to hot and spicy colour.