3 Monoprint: Final stencils + printing resolved works

No printing for me today - I spent class time this week in my studio nook cutting and preparing additional stencils to use for my resolved works and considering how I’d use them alongside last weeks. I’d gone on a walk in the early morning and taken a photo of a tree silhouetted against the sky with two crows sitting on its branch. I used this as inspiration for creating a detailed stencil on a Khadi paper round. I chose to continue experimenting with this paper for some of my stencilling for a few reasons, one being that the thickness of the paper leaves a nice emboss on the print, which I like quite a lot. It also absorbs some of the ink off the plate on the first pull through the press due to its absorbency and texture, which results in a softer image being transferred when flipping it over. I also like the round deckled edge of the paper showing up in my prints.

I had some breaks from cutting - thicker paper means having to press more firmly, so was hard work and not great for the posture posture. I wandered into the studio a few times to check out what my peers were up to, feeling inspired seeing the variety of approaches and all the interesting results being discovered through various techniques and use of unusual materials to stencil and mask. Back at my desk, I tore up some thin, handmade paper to create some fluffy edged, cloud like shapes, intending to get some nice soft edged texture in my prints, though am a little worried that the delicate paper may not hold up well.

Cutting out my detailed tree stencil

Keeping the positives and negatives to utilise in my prints.

Thin, handmade paper for fluffy clouds

(In the end these weren’t ideal - the paper was so delicate it stuck to the plate and tore in places when removed, leaving being little bits of fibre in the ink)

Part Two: Using initial and new stencils for printing resolved works

I prepared for printing for my resolved works, beginning with mixing my inks and having my station ready to roll up the plate. My paper was all pre torn down, I have two over sized A3 sheets and two longer thin sheets ready to print. I gathered all of my stencils and materials with no real plan of how I was going to place them for my final images. I wanted to replicate some of the feeling and composition of my original test prints and to create a dream like landscape of sorts, keeping landscape and ecology in mind, I placed my stencils, though still worked quite intuitively.

Mixing Ink I

Had picked up some paint colour swatches from Bunnings for 2 colours I had in mind - a dusty/earthy mauve and a greyish lavender purple with the intention of creating a blended roll. I have a preference for using muted colour in my work.

For the dusty mauve I mixed white, transparent white, warm red and a touch of blue.

Mixing Ink II

For the grey/lavender purple I mixed white, transparent white, blue with a touch of warm red and a tiny amount of black.

Blended Roll

Creating my first blended roll. Dappled light reflecting off the studio windows.

Getting ready to ghost print

I neglected to take photos for some of my process as I’d gotten into the flow of it all. Here I’m rearranging and flipping stencils after the initial pull through the press to generate a ghost print, again working quite intuitively and hoping for the best.

Ghosts on the plate

First print

At first I wasn’t very happy with this print - I didn’t like how dark it turned out and the contrast between the inked and white areas was too much for me. I ran it through the press again having flipped some of my stencils and materials to print their inked up sides. This help soften the image a little.

I printed bark, rabbits foot fern fronds, a found moth cocoon (found empty, no moths harmed!) and many of my cut stencils.

A happy accident

The inking on the face was accidental, having flipped the stencil the wrong way, the clean side of the face picked up a little ink - but I ended up quite liking the effect.

Blind emboss and ghost printing the happy accident

The mistake with flipping my stencil was softened in this ghost print, and I like its effect even more here.

I like how ghost printing my plates overall softened my colours and allowed for more tonal variation - I prefer the outcome of these much more than the two high contrast prints.

My bark blind embossing into the paper is also my favourite part of the prints and has maybe started a new obsession for me..

Second ghost print

Ghost printing of my second darker print - loving the contrast between the white areas of the paper and introduction of blended roll colour to opposite sides of the paper.

Detail of bark with tree stencil - my stencils have taken on the role of tree, tree roots and also vein like structures.