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There is no right or wrong way to monoprint and like all processes just takes a little
bit of experimentation to find the way that suits you.
You will need very simple materials to get you started. You'll need a piece of acetate
or plastic surface to roll out acrylic paint onto and you'll need two rollers; one which
you'll keep clean and dry and the other which you'll use to roll out the acrylic paint onto
the acetate. To start with simply squeeze a blob of acrylic
paint, about the size of a penny piece onto the acetate and then start rolling it out
to create an even layer of paint across the whole surface.
When the paint is evenly spread, get a piece of paper and gently rub it over the surface
or gently roll with a clean roller. It's important to work quite quickly because the acrylic
paint will act as a sort of glue and as it dries the paper could glue to the acetate
and then will be difficult to peel off. So try and keep that in mind and work quickly.
Then get a pencil or pen or sharp tool and create your design or drawing on the back
of the paper. This will be the back of the print.
When you finish your drawing carefully pull the paper away from the acetate and your mono
print will be revealed. You could also try, rather than actually drawing
on the back of the paper, you can draw on the back of the acetate itself.
That's quite good because then you can actually see what your drawing and you can experiment
with mark making more evenly. Finally you can have a go rolling out the
acrylic paint onto the acetate as you did before, but this time draw directly onto the
wet acrylic paint: create your pattern into the paint, experiment with mark making, experiment
with design and then when you are finished gently roll onto the back of the paper, again
work quickly to prevent the paper sticking to the acetate and then when you are done,
peel back to reveal your monoprint.
The most important thing with monoprinting is to keep experimenting and keep working
quickly; it's a really good way of not being inhibited in the way you work and really being
open and experimental. You can have a go at building a pattern by working on a larger
piece of paper and then building up a tessellated pattern or, you can work on the same piece
of paper create a layered print.