Watercolor Monotypes: Try This at Home!

A few weeks ago, while giving a Monotype demo at the Eugene!Print event, I was telling folks that I read about ways to make Monotypes at home without a printing press. I read that some people make prints by rubbing a spoon on the back of the paper and other printmaking life hacks. I decided it's time I put these theories to the test and make my own home-made Monotypes, using things that are easy to come by.
My first stop was the hardware store, where I picked up some standard-size, per-cut Plexiglas plates. I also bought some sand paper to sand my plates. I learned from our superb print-shop tech Mika, that this is an excellent way to make the plate's surface easy to paint on with watercolors. A plate that hasn't been sanded makes the water bead-up, and it's very hard to make distinct lines or shapes. You can play with how much you sand your plate. There were times when I painted on plates that were still a bit slippery, and I enjoyed the lack of control and splatter-marks that came out. (Here is an example of a piece I made in December 2013 on a plate that wasn't sanded. You can really see how the water beads around the form!)

If your paper is smaller than the plate you're painting on (like in the example below), you can place the paper you want to print on underneath the plate as you paint. This will show you how big to make your image, where your borders are, and how your colors will work with the colors of the paper.

After painting on your plate, set it aside to dry completely. Meanwhile, immerse your paper in a tub of water. Some like to leave it for 5 minutes to soak, others (me) give it a brief dunking. You can play with the amount of time you soak your paper. This may change the texture of your final image, make it softer/harsher, or give it other subtle aesthetic differences that could give your image just the right characteristics that you are looking for. So, as always, experiment! After the bath, get the excess water off by shaking the paper, and carefully dabbing it with a towel until it's no longer shiny wet (if the paper is too wet it can make your shapes get runny).

 

Next, place the paper, carefully, on top of the plate. Do it in one go, otherwise you can start smearing your image. Before placing the sheet, try to align the edges of your image with the edges of the paper. 

Below you can see what I tried to replace the press: little spoon, big spoon, and rolling pin. The basic idea is to find something that will put enough pressure on top of the paper in order to transfer the image without ripping the moist paper. The best results that I got so far were with the rolling pin. I made sure to place my plate on a hard surface (like cement steps) so that I can put a lot of pressure on a flat surface. My rolling pin was ceramic.To simulate a printing-press, a metal rolling pin may be better. If I find one, I'll give it a try and let you know how it went!  If you folks at home have a better press-substitute idea, please let me know!! :)

 

Here are a couple of the prints that I pulled. The last, I believe, came out the best, i.e.: closest to the image that I actually tried to paint, best color transfer, and the least smudged. For that one I used the rolling pin, and I painted on a sanded Acrylic Sheet, (.093 inches thick). The other plate I tried was a non-glare Plaskolite, that didn't work quite as well, I thought.

Touching Up 

  

In most cases, when I try to touch-up monotypes they come out looking weird. It almost feels like trying to reenact a spontaneous funny moment: kind of off, and never the same. The print has its own textures and accidental moments that weren't planned, so they are hard to mimic. I often wish it was easier to touch-up a print. Many prints come out with many little beautiful moments that I love, but as a whole, the prints suck! (a metaphor for life, if I ever typed one.)

That said, I am going to give you some ideas on what you can do with a monotype that you like- but wish was better.
From the examples above and below: you can paint on it using the same medium (watercolor). You can introduce line to work with, or change the arrangement of existing shapes, making them into something else (here I used a Copic liner). You can also use opaque paint to touch up, or to paint on top of the transparent shapes (here I used white gouache to clean up some messes). 

  

Below are the pairs of monotypes before and after fixing (left:before, Right: after). One thing to keep in mind while touching up, is how to preserve the spontaneous feel of the printed textures: don't try to make it into something else, work with what's already happening on the page.  

 

These are just a few ideas, try it your own way, and have fun!!