Mono . . . Printing!

washing up

dusty plexiglas plates

I’m looking forward to my new project with monoprints. Spent the day in the studio preparing  my materials. Cleaning came first.  I have  plexiglass plates that were prepared months ago and were covered by a thick layer of dust. They had to be washed carefully.  For any type of printing the first step to remember is to have a CLEAN plate, ready to receive the ink.

 

Then I set up the table where I'll ink my plates and store the paper which I wet beforehand. This is my choice.  There are printers that prefer not to moisten their paper but I feel  that damp paper absorbs the color better.

  

 I found my printing inks. Some are lithographic and some are calcographic (used for etching). I stacked them close to the old  lithographic stone that I use for mixing colors and put my linseed oil and turps close by.  Printing inks are stiff and need to be softened by using either oil or turpentine along with  good hard mixing with a spatula. Both thick color and fluid color can be used for monoprinting. All  depends on what effects are desired.


 

Sorry my litho stone is covered.  Will take a better photo next time.

litho inks

etching inks

Tomorrow I'll start to print and am toying with the idea  NOT to  use my press but to do some by hand.  It's all in experimenting right?   That's the fun of it.

the press is ready