Monprint/Colograph Playdate

 I have been spending so much time getting my new workshop programs up and out there that I've had little time to play so this was a wonderful opportunity to get together with Judith and blog along with the Fire folk.

Judith explained that a monoprint was done with a matrix like her buttons and a monotype was a one of a kind print. She said, "Let's monoprint some buttons." So here I am thinking that we are going to monoprint ON the buttons. I'm game. So I am picking out nice flat buttons I can use as a substrate to print ON. No. I missed the point. As you saw from Judith's post, she made a matrix of buttons hot glued to a substrate then used them to print with. I kind of flew off somewhere and printed ON the buttons.

 Plastic sheeting (6mil)

 OK, so now on to the actual technique of monoprinting

Hot Glue on Cardboard

Padded Printing Surface

 Fabric pinned onto padded printing surface

 Using it as a stamp gave fine lines and a nice all over design (see below)

The reason I wrote colograph was because when I got to the purple paint, I decided that instead of "stamping" the color on the fabric, I would lay the paint covered matrix on my padded printing surface, lay the fabric on top face down and rub the matrix with my fingers. I got a very different result using the matrix as a colograph rather than a "stamp". You can see below that instead of just picking up the paint from the very top of the hot glue, my hands and fingers were used the get more of the surface of the hot glue squiggles and even some of the cardboard matrix covered paint onto the fabric. Much bolder lines. I saved the hot glue matrix and will trim away the hard edges of the cardboard closer to the outside edges of the hot glue for a more organic shape next time I use it. Judith did the same with her button matrix

 Looks kind of like the U.S.

 Judith setting up her matrix

 Photographing her finished results