I was having a little trouble in my printmaking class finding some direction. I’m taking an independent study with a focus in monoprints. Since a monoprint is just a printed painting, I have so much freedom to explore anything I choose to paint and print.
Sometimes having too much freedom in class you’re not that comfortable with yet can be challenging. I take the class with some grad students that have more experience in printmaking. Sometimes they give me tips and pointers on things to try and mediums to work with. But the subject matter that I want to focus on is something I have to figure out for myself. I want to apply my prints to my paintings. Even though printmaking is so different from painting they are a lot alike too.
A professor of mine during my recent portfolio review said, “Why not try making prints from your paintings? The color is already worked out for you and then you can focus in on any small section of your painting to create an interesting composition.” So I decided this was a perfect idea for me so I don’t get so caught up in the subject matter I am choosing. The first one I worked on came out really nice. I used an oil based ink and a small section from one of my paintings.
The next one I did I used a water based ink so I can compare the results. The water based version leaves more evidence of brush strokes and it dries much quicker when you are first applying it, which can be a good or bad thing depending on what type of print you want to do. This composition was also made up of shapes from another larger painting I am working on. I altered the colors but the composition remained the same from the most part, it was just flipped.
The last one I did was a lot of fun. I was solely focusing on the color and allowing the color to decide the composition. This was an oil based ink and it provided a solid color strip that I was looking for. This one was not derived from a previous painting but I think it will be inspiration for future prints I plan on creating.
Have a wonderful spring break!