Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Carter and I'm gonna be guiding you through our lesson today on Monoprinting.

We're going to be looking at a multitude of different ways that you can create a monoprint using a few different types of materials.

So you're going to need to make sure that you've checked the equipment list first 'cause there's quite a lot of things that you're gonna need.

Because we're producing quite a lot of work today, I know that you are gonna be working super hard and we're gonna get some fantastic learning done today.

Make sure that you have a go at all of the tasks and try not to worry too much about the outcome.

Quite a lot of what we're going to be doing, you won't actually be able to see how it's come out until the very final step.

So this process is all about letting go and allowing yourself to experiment and test the processes.

Really looking forward to today's learning and I know that you're gonna be fantastic.

So let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you are going to be able to say, I can make and monoprint using both ink and oil pastel to create unique prints with different textures.

And you can see already there that I'm talking about the fact that we're gonna be doing all these different processes in today's lesson.

There are a few important keywords that we need to be really comfortable using throughout today's lesson.

And the first one is monoprint.

A monoprint is a one-off printmaking method where ink is rolled onto a surface, paper is placed on top and then drawing transfers a mirrored impression onto the reverse side of the paper.

We've also got a reductive monoprint, which again is a one-off printmaking method where ink is rolled onto a surface but then removed before the paper is placed on top and the print is taken, the image is created through that removal process.

Our lesson today's got two learning cycles.

First we're gonna be looking at monoprinting with oil pastel.

Then we're gonna move on to looking at how we can monitor print with ink.

Let's get started.

Monoprinting is a one-off printmaking method where ink is rolled onto a surface.

Paper is placed on top.

A drawing transfers a mirrored image or a mirrored impression onto the reverse side of the paper.

And you can see that in these two examples here, or at least you can see where the lines have been created.

You might not be able to see the fact that it was a mirror image to the original just yet.

Have you ever done anything like monoprinting before? Okay, check for understanding true or false.

Artists can make multiple identical monoprints.

Pause the video and decide if you think that that is a true or a false statement.

Did you say false? Well done if you did.

Monoprinting is a one-off printmaking method where ink is rolled onto a surface.

Paper is placed on top, drawing transfers a mirrored impression onto the reverse side of the paper.

Only one print can be created.

Depending on the material used when monoprinting, we can achieve texture or crisp prints.

Monoprints can be created using oil pastel or printing ink.

I wonder which you think will produce more texture.

Do you think one might give you more of a crisp mark? This is a monoprint created with oil pastel.

Do you think that all of the marks are crisp or do you think there's quite a lot of texture? Bear in mind that in this particular one, there is some watercolour paint that's been added.

Does that watercolour affect the way that you understand texture in the image? Does it add its own texture? Monoprinting with oil pastels can be created like this.

So you apply oil pastels to some card considering the placement of the colours and look at how those colours have been blended together.

Look at how thickly the oil pastel has been applied to the cardboard.

This creates a surface from which pressure can remove oil pastel to create your print.

You then cover the image and draw, applying pressure.

The image that you create will appear on the reverse side of the paper that you place down.

So you might want to sandwich your oil pastel sheet with the paper you'd like to draw on and then the image that you are working on on top.

But if you do that, you're gonna need to make sure you secure it really, really well because any movement of the image and the paper will cause you to get a double print rather than the whole image producing beautifully.

You then reveal the image, which will be a mirror image and you can see here that it is a mirror image and that's really important to remember.

Depending on what it is that you are choosing to draw, you might need to flip elements before you draw them so that you get them the right way around on your final outcome, you can always add a watercolour wash.

Oil pastel and watercolour will not mix because you've got oil in the oil pastel and water in the water colour and obviously you know from science that those two materials can't mix.

So this allows you to develop your work using the oil pastel and maintaining those lovely crisp lines.

Okay, second check for understanding, which step has been removed from this process? So we've got apply oil pastel to some card considering the placement and colour.

Then we've got a missing step.

Then reveal the image and it will be a mirror image and then you could add a watercolour wash, pause the video and see if you can decide which step has been removed.

Did you remember that it was cover the oil pastel with the image and draw, applying pressure? Well done if you did.

It's the crucial step in creating your monoprint with oil pastel.

The pressure that you apply with either a pen or a pencil onto that surface is what causes the oil pastel to transfer from the plate, the cardboard that you've created, onto the image that you are drawing.

So we're going to begin our task A where we're going to be monoprinting with oil pastel.

So you're going to create a monoprint of a landscape with oil pastel.

If you go to the additional materials, I have provided some images there for you, but you might want to choose a location that is important to you.

If you choose a local location somewhere that's important to you, you must remember to flip the image if there is anything about that image, that means you want it to come out exactly the way that it looks in real life.

Think about if there's a sign on the building, maybe it's an important building that's not symmetrical and if you print it the wrong way around, it will be recognisably not correct if you need to take that step.

It can often be done with all sorts of different online editors for photos, but make sure you do that before you print it off so that you are able to trace it.

If you don't have a printed image that you'd like to use, you might be able to find something in a magazine or newspaper or you could draw freehand.

It's entirely up to you, as you are working, you could use a broken line to trace the shapes.

Now a broken line is when you lift your pen off as you continue to draw.

And what this does is removes the line from being completely solid and it can change the thickness of the line as well.

This allows you to demonstrate a different level of skill.

It stops the work looking quite as cartoon-like and might give you a more of a realistic look.

It might be particularly important if you are attempting to create lots of different texture because that variety in the thickness of line and the fact that there might be gaps in the line will begin to produce a different type of mark which can help us to create texture in our artwork.

And that leads me onto, you might want to add mark making.

Think about all the things you've done before in mark making crosshatching, stippling, scribbling.

All of those techniques that you've used before could be incredibly powerful in this piece of work to produce texture in your landscape.

Test using different items to apply pressure like pens or pencils, different nibs on your pens and pencils could create or transfer different types of pressure, different thicknesses of pressure which are gonna to give you different types of print.

And remember, the process for creating a monoprint is like this.

You apply oil pastel to some card considering the placement of colours.

You cover that oil pastel sheet with your paper and your image.

You apply pressure through drawing to create your image.

You then reveal that image so you just take it off that surface and remember it will be that mirror image.

And an extra step, you could add watercolour or a watercolour wash to create more depth and more interest in your work.

Pause the video and get started now.

Are you pleased with what you were able to produce? I'm sure you've done a fantastic job.

You might have something that looks a little bit like this and Sam shares, "I like the crisp and neat to monoprint I've been able to create.

It's recognisable and the wash is effective.

It almost looks like a cartoon.

Next time I'm gonna add more mark making." I wonder if you've assessed your work and if there's anything you would change about what you've produced if you were to do it for a second time.

But remember, every time you find success in your work and you consider a way of making it better, all you're doing is improving.

So make sure that you have those thoughts.

What have I done really, really well? And you can see that Sam's identified lots of things she's done effectively.

She's also identified one thing that she could do and change it next time to make her work a little bit improved.

So we're moving on now to monoprinting with.

How does monoprinting with ink differ from using oil pastel? And Izzy is considering that question and she comes up with, ink is wet.

That would impact the textures but the ink will dry over time so I might have to work quicker.

She also says, "It might be more sensitive to pressure and pick up more marks." Can you think of any more differences? Monoprinting with ink is more likely to capture textures, marks and details than printing with oil pastel, as the wet ink is more sensitive.

Which textures catch your attention in these prints? The top one has some textures that are created due to high contrast where there's thick ink and then no ink next to it.

And those really catch my attention.

They've got quite a sharp edge to them and I find my eye being drawn to them quite a lot.

The lower image, I find the softness of that texture really appealing and I like the way that it's got very organic shape to it.

Okay, true or false? Monoprinting with ink is more likely to result in a less detailed outcome than with oil pastel.

Pause the video and decide if you think that that's true or false.

Well done if you said that that was false, due to the ink being wet, it's more sensitive to pressure and you are more likely to capture unexpected marks, textures and details using ink.

Prints which capture marks and textures include Julie Mehretu's "Monotype 13" from 2018 and it's an expressive and textured print.

Danielle Creenaune created "Enfold" in 2024, which captures brush stroke-like marks in the landscape.

Painterly marks have been created in both Elaine Mullings' Ghost boat series from 2016 and John Virtue's prints depicting London.

John Lyons uses a wiping technique in his woodcuts to gain more marks and Jim Dine combines a wide variety of marks with his printmaking of tools.

Mark making's a really important part of printmaking.

There is a quality to the mark making in printmaking which isn't replicated in other art mediums. This can be something really special and unique about printmaking and often cited as a reason that print makers use that process.

There are different processes that you can use to create an ink monoprint.

So the first one is a tracing monoprint, with a layer of ink rolled onto a surface, paper's placed over this layer of ink, pressure is applied to draw the image or you can do a reductive monoprint.

This is when an artist might choose to remove the ink from a surface and then place the paper down and take a print.

These processes can be combined.

What do you think the benefit of combining two different processes might be for an artist? The tracing monoprint process looks like this, ink is rolled onto a smooth surface.

This image shows only one colour, but there isn't a reason why you couldn't combine colours together in the surface.

Excess ink is removed.

Now you can see here that piece of paper's been placed over it.

Normally a thinner type of paper but one without texture.

You don't want to use a tissue because you will get that texture on your surface.

You want to use a very flat type of paper and then you're going to spread it.

Apply a gentle amount of pressure using the hand in a really flat way and evenly across the whole thing.

That piece of paper would then just be removed.

You then gently place the paper on the ink.

And here we've got a printed image on the other side to trace from.

Then you draw through applying pressure and you can use any tool.

And you can see in the example, the artist has chosen to use a wooden spoon, but you could use a pen.

The hard end of a paintbrush, people have used their nails.

The heel of your hand to apply pressure.

Whatever different tool you use will create a different kind of mark in your final outcome.

Okay, check for understanding time.

Ink monoprints are created in exactly the same way as oil pastels monoprints.

Pause the video and tell me if you think that that is true or false.

Did you say false? Well done, with ink monoprinting, the ink is placed on a surface and excess ink must be removed.

This step is not needed in an oil pastel monoprint.

And so we can see that we've got a difference there.

This is the reductive monoprint process and it looks like this.

So you'd roll ink onto a surface and again, remember you could combine multiple different colours onto the same plate.

You can then remove ink, drawing directly onto that surface.

And in the example here, you can see that they're using a cotton bud.

But you could use all sorts of materials, anything that would move the ink, so you could wipe it with fabric or tissue.

You could use your fingers, although you will get messy.

You could use a pen or a pencil.

Again, you would need to clean that off afterwards.

Or really unconventional materials, so like a spoon or a screwdriver, all sorts of different things.

You need to work quite quickly 'cause the ink needs to remain wet.

And when you've done that, you then place your paper over the surface of the wet ink, apply pressure really evenly so that all of that surface lifts off the same amount of ink and you then reveal your mirror image print.

And once again, your image would come out as a mirror.

So you need to remember that when you are making your drawing on the surface.

Okay, so check for understanding time.

Which of the following is a correct process for a reductive monoprint? Is it A, ink the surface, remove the excess ink, draw through pressure and reveal.

Is it B, ink the surface, remove ink to draw.

Apply pressure to paper and reveal.

Or is it C, oil pastel behind an image, tape the image to paper trace and then reveal.

Pause the video and decide which statement you think is the correct process For a reductive monoprint.

Well done if you said B, you can ink the surface, remove the ink through drawing, apply pressure with paper and reveal your print.

So moving into the first part of task B where you're going to use ink to create a traced monoprint landscape.

I suggest that you could use the same image as task A, but you will need another copy of it.

You could again use those broken lines to trace out those shapes.

Add in mark making, and this time don't just think about how you are drawing the mark making, but also vary the materials that you are using.

Test using different tools to apply pressure.

So you could use pens or pencil, fingers or fingernails, sticks or cutlery.

You should be following this process as you're working.

Rolling the ink onto a smooth surface, removing excess ink, gently placing down the paper with the image facing upwards and then drawing through pressure, tracing the image using a tool of your choice or maybe a combination of tools.

Pause the video and give yourself plenty of time to complete this work.

Were you surprised when you revealed your image? How did it feel to not know what it was gonna look like until those final moments? Or did you peek and look early? You might've made something that looks a bit like this.

And Aisha says, "I'm really proud of my traced monoprint.

I like the soft textures for the dunes using the side of my hand." Sofia adds, "You worked quickly and made such an atmospheric print." So for task B two, you're gonna use ink to create a reductive monoprint landscape.

Could use a broken line to trace the shapes.

Add mark making using different items to remove the ink.

So think about things like a cotton bud, tissue, a pencil, a stick.

You should use the following process.

So you're gonna roll ink onto a flat, smooth surface.

You are gonna remove the ink, drawing directly onto the surface.

And this is the point where you could test all those different materials.

You then gently place your paper over that surface and apply even pressure.

At that point you'll be able to reveal your mirror image print.

I suggest that you use the same image again so it will test each of the processes really fairly against each other.

And you can see the different qualities that you're able to produce.

Pause the video and get started now.

How did you get on? Did you find that you actually had to work really quickly? Depending on the time of year or the temperature can really impact how long you've got on this type of work.

If your ink starts to dry really quickly, you're gonna have to work that much faster to capture those marks before they're dried and won't transfer onto your paper anymore.

You might produce something that looks a little bit like this.

And Andeep says, "I'm so impressed with the range of marks you've created Jun, how did you make the white lines?" Jun says, "Thanks, I scraped away all of the ink to create clean lines." How did your print come out? In our lesson today, Playing with Monoprint, we've learned that monoprinting is a technique that produces one of a kind images, allowing for creative experimentation.

Monoprinting with ink is more likely to capture textures and marks than printing with oil pastel, there are different processes to create oil, pastoral monoprints, ink trace monoprint and reductive ink monoprint.

I wonder if you had a preference of three processes.

Did you find one more successful or more enjoyable? Or do you think you were freer with one of those techniques compared to the others? You should be really proud of what you've achieved today.

We've looked at three different techniques.

We've produced three different pieces of work, and through that, you've really built on your understanding of monoprinting as this process.

Well done, I look forward to seeing you in my next lesson.

Goodbye.