A-Z summer project// SCREENPRINTING [pt_1/home monoprinting techniques]

Home Monoprinting

the monoprint equipment

So what all this is, is litrally seeing the results i could achieve from printmaking at home, no printstudio no fancy kit none of all that


just me and anything i got to hand.
-luckily i got bundles of odds and ends collected over the years


So i know me picking screenprinting as part of the A-Z SUMMER PROJECT is a bit of an obvious choice-but in fairness there is this twist-screenprinting from home.


its achievable and this is my process starting with monoprinting some background textures.

I started using acrylic paint, i got loads of odd colours in a sale and bags of half tubes i never finished

because acylic is waterbased and i know ill end up fucking about with it alot i taped it all down, to keep it still when working into the paper and also importantly so the paper doesnt warp when drying because of the water.

I litrally threw the paint down onto the paper, or squidged it straight on out of the tubes.

using a stiff edge or even my hand i would streak it accross as if i was sceenprinting.

notice here, i learnt an important little trick. Firstly i applied a layer of one colour, let it dry. then apply a second coating of a different colour without letting it proper dry and smashed a bit of water on it! left it for a couple minuites and using my improvised cardboard squeegee - scraped it off quickly . where the water soaked clened off the top layer of paint revealing the undercoat!! purely by accident i found this! I LOVE IT!

I found using darkrooms that id hang up the photographic prints, its a great way to handle any fresh work. do i did just that, using the clothes line and pegs as a makeshift drying rack,

n was great cos you can see all your work at one time without fannying about with them racks

i moved on from acrylics and worked with some rusty cans of spray paint ive had kicking about for ages. i began by just building up layers of colour, and really using the medium to do its own thing, making clouds or colour and drips etc and generally getting messy

i later stopped using it solely for colour and used the spray paint in a way to create gestures and strokes thinking about less is more i feel i [as well as loads of these brilliant splats]

some examples of the final monoprints. my aim was at first to have them as they are, create texture to work on top of in photoshop or as standalone imagery

but i love these itd be a shame not to give them more life so once dry i intended to screenprint at home with them