Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Green and welcome to Oak National Academy Arts.

Today, we're studying monoprinting techniques, creating unique and expressive prints from the unit: Foundation Workshop Developing Skills.

We look at two very different, but very interesting monoprinting techniques today, creating some unique and fascinating print.

I can't wait to get started, hope it's the same for you, so let's get going.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to create your own unique and expressive monochrome using two different approaches, direct drawing and subtractive techniques.

That means you'll learn not just how to make a single print, but how to experiment with different ways of producing unique and expressive mark.

Before we go any further let's make sure we understand some key words from today's lesson.

So a monoprint is a one-off print made by pressing or drawing onto an inked surface.

A plate is the flat surface like an acrylic sheet that you apply ink onto for printing.

Texture refers to the surface quality of an artwork, either real like raised ink or implied like marks that suggest roughness or smoothness.

And a subtractive monoprint is the monoprinting technique where you draw into or remove ink from the plate before printing.

We'll come back to these words quite a lot through the lesson so keep them in mind.

So today's lesson is divided into two parts.

First we'll look at direct drawing monoprints where you draw into ink to create your design then we'll move on to subtracted monoprints which allow for more control over texture and tone.

Both methods will give you the chance to make work that is one of a kind I'm sure.

So let's start by looking at direct drawing monoprints.

So here's the thought, can a mistake actually become art? You want to pause the video and have a think to yourself about that or discuss with a partner or a friend, please do so.

By the way, let's think about it together.

Now with monoprinting, the answer is often yes, some of the most striking work comes from surprises.

Maybe the ink spread differently than you expect or a line comes out less sharp.

Printing is unpredictable.

Monoprinting embraces that.

That lets enchant and expression work together to create something taken unique and expressive.

So what is a monoprint? Well, a monoprint is a one-off print.

That means it can't be exactly repeated.

Unlike block prints or digital prints which are designed for multiple prints, look the same.

Monoprints are about uniqueness.

Each one captured a single moment.

Makes them incredibly valuable to us and expressive.

So how do we go about creating a monoprint? Well, first of all, you'll need a plate or a block, some ink or paint, some form of roller to spread that ink or paint onto the block, and then some paper on which to print.

Then you can also use simple tools, pencils, sticks, even the end of a paintbrush if you're stuck for anything else to draw into the ink.

This is why printing, particularly monoprinting is so enjoyable and exciting.

The simplicity of the tool gives you so much freedom to experiment, really allows your creativity to go wild.

So before we get started with your own monoprinting effort, it would be really good for you to hear about some artists that have experimented with making monoprints to create quite unique outcomes.

So firstly, we've got Natasha Kumar who was born in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s.

She's a British artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, printmaking and installation.

Natasha Kumar draws on her Indian heritage and personal experiences to explore themes of identity, memory and the intersection of cultural history of contemporary life.

So her work often incorporates intricate patterns, textures and vibrant colors, creating layered compositions that invite close viewing and reflection.

But with her practice, Kumar interrogates notions of belonging, diaspora and self-expression, using both traditional and experimental techniques to merge personal narratives with broader cultural and social commentary.

Next we have Paul Smith, is an American artist mostly active in the mid to late 20th century.

He is known as the typewriter artist for his pioneering use of a manual typewriter to create intricate images, patterns and portraits.

Now, Paul Smith was born in Philadelphia with severe cerebral palsy, so he had limited mobility in speech, making traditional art tools very difficult to use.

Smith therefore began experimenting with a discarded typewriter at age 11, turning keystrokes into a form of self-expression.

Over seven decades he produced hundreds of meticulous, thought-provoking works, merged language and visual art.

A final example is Edgar Degas, a late, mid to late 19th, early 20th century French artist known for his paintings, drawings, sculptures and innovative printmaking.

Associated mostly with impressionism, though preferring the term realist, he's best known for his depictions of ballet dancers, racehorses, and scenes of modern Peruvian life.

Degas experimented widely of monoprint and pastel, pushing traditional techniques to capture movement, light, and atmosphere.

His works reveal a fascination with the human body in motion, combining observation with intention.

So, let's just check you understand what we've heard about monoprint so far.

So I want you to answer this question.

What's a defining feature of a monoprint? Is it A, it can be copied many times.

B, it is always symmetrical and repeatable.

C, it is unique and cannot be exactly repeated.

D, it requires digital software.

So pause the video, have a think about the question and when you're ready to see the answer and see if you're correct, press play.

Of course, the correct answer is C.

I'm sure you got that.

A monoprint is unique, it can't be exactly repeated.

That's one of its defining features.

You can remember this if you're having trouble thinking about that.

With the fact that it's got the prefix 'mono'.

So 'mono' meaning one, like a monocle, you know, a one-eyed lens.

So a monoprint, there's only one of them, it's unique.

So let's think a little bit about the different aspects of our monoprinting and how it works.

We'll go through some of the different techniques that we can use and some of the things we need to be aware of starting with inking the plate.

So in printmaking the plate is your base.

You use a roller or some other method of applying a smooth even layer of ink.

And what that means is that surface is now ready for you to draw into.

So the quality of that base really matters.

Too much ink and your mark may smudge, too little and your print may come out faint.

So getting that really even, nicely layered, but not too thick layer of ink is really, really important.

Now once your plate is inked, you can place your paper gently on top, then draw on the back of the paper.

Now this method means that wherever you press, the ink transfers, capturing your marks.

So this method feels very immediate, very physical.

Every line reflects the pressure of your hand.

The top tips for success here are that you place the paper very gently on the top, and then you maybe experiment with different amounts of pressure and mark-making in what you're doing on the back of the paper.

And that method of monoprinting is called direct drawing.

The lines won't be perfect, sharp, and they vary in strength and thickness, that depends on how much pressure you put into it.

And it's that variation that makes them expressive.

You're not gonna get uniform lines, you get lines that feel really alive.

You know, they capture the pressure and the imagination, the creativity that you put into the mark-making.

And of course they're unique, you're not gonna be able to do the exact same print twice using this method.

When you're making direct drawing monoprints, you should really try experimenting.

You could use different pressures, light marks, the delicate effects, heavy pressure for bold lines with more sort of noise around the lines.

You could switch tools, you could try a pencil, a stick, even something like a comb.

Each choice creates new textures and visual qualities.

So let's check what you understand about monoprinting so far.

We talked about the plate.

I want you to answer this question.

What is the purpose of the plate in monoprinting? Is it A, to mix colors.

B, to provide a flat surface for applying and transferring in.

C, to protect the paper.

D, to measure alignment.

So pause the video, think about your answer and hit play when you're ready to resume.

Of course, the answer was B.

The purpose of the plate in monoprinting is to provide a flat surface for applying and transferring ink.

This is the day I've been waiting for.

Now it's going to be your turn.

I want you to create 2 to 3 direct drawing monoprints to use that technique that we've just talked about.

So I want you to focus on expressive lines and texture in your back of your paper.

Try using different pressures, experiment with different tools, see each print comes out differently.

So remember carefully apply using that roller onto the ink onto the plate.

Lightly, very gently place your paper on top of the ink and then on the back of that paper try some of these different techniques of writing, drawing, mark-making with different pressures, different tools and do a couple of these 2 to 3 to see how they come out differently.

In a minute, I'll show you some examples some other pupils have done, but I can't wait to find out what you were able to achieve.

So pause the video, have a go and press play when you're ready to come back and see what you might have produced.

Okay, so we've got an example here from Jun and you can see actually one of these we showed you how it was being made earlier on in the lesson, the one on the left hand side with those red lines, we've got another example as well.

So Jun tells us that they made two direct drawing monoprints by inking the plate and drawing expressive lines to capture movement and energy, I think that really comes across particularly that one on the left hand side you can see actually, that on the left hand side the one that Jun describes where the lines overlap to create a hatch texture.

I think Jun has used a lot more pressure in this one because you can see the lines are darker, there's also this sort of like fuzzy noise around the line and it creates such an interesting effect, it almost looked to me like something you would see under a microscope in a biology lesson some sort of like really, really, really zoomed in a single cell or very basic organism.

It looks almost alive or maybe part of a plant the forms of a palm something like that and that really comes out in Jun's second piece with those leaves as well.

Hopefully you were able to see how the different levels of pressure, the different tools, the different speed in which you created your marks and your lines came up with different effects in your own monochromatic printing.

I'm sure you did an amazing job.

Remember, these are just some examples of what you might have created, than are not what you needed to create.

So whatever you were able to do with your experimentation, that's brilliant.

I hope you were able to show off your creativity and enthusiasm for this skill.

So we're going to move on now to the second part of the lesson which is about subtractive monoprints and this will give us another way to experiment with texture and tone.

So there are multiple approaches to monoprinting alongside direct drawing that we've just looked at.

There's this subtractive method.

Now this gives you a little bit more control over texture and tone, you can really see that on the left hand side in this image.

Because you're removing ink from the plate rather than adding lines to the drawing, it's much easier to create lighter areas and areas of different texture using a more diverse range of techniques than just mark-making and line making.

You can really see that here on the left hand side in this blue image of a face and the much lighter areas.

So let's have a think about how we can actually create our own subtracted monoprint.

So you'll still need a plate, an ink, a roller and paper.

But this time you need tools that are going to be useful to help you removing things like cotton buds, fabric, something with texture because it's that wiping away that creates highlight, textures and expressive marks.

So as before you start with a smooth inked plate, but instead of plating our paper on top of that plate and then drawing on the back of the paper, we're going to draw white or scratch directly into the ink and wherever that ink is removed using whichever tools or textured items that we want to the print will come out lighter and that creates a strong contrast between dark and light.

If we look at this example you notice the bold textures and the areas of dark and light.

Subtracted monoprinting allows a really expressive effect and gives you more control than the direct method.

It's especially useful when you want really beautiful dramatic contrast in your final print.

Now you can also transfer a design.

So you ink your plate, then you use wiping tools to remove ink in the shape of your design.

So you can see here this artist has got a pencil sketch that they've produced, full of really vivid sort of contrast that they've produced with their mark-making in pencil here.

Now they want to transfer that image over into their printed design.

So they've linked up their plate, they've put it over the top of the image and then they're using that as a guide to wipe off different parts of the image using different tools and techniques.

Meaning that those wiped areas will stand out as highlights against the darker background and create a really effective, nice contrast that you wouldn't have been able to get with that direct drawing monoprint technique.

So you can see there, I've managed to reduce quite a lot of the ink layers, really subtle ways, a variety of different sort of scratch and softer marks using both fabric, but also a cotton bud as well as some other sort of like more finely scratched marks.

So let's check what you know so far about the subtractive monoprint technique.

So in the subtractive monoprint technique what happens first? Do you A, remove ink from the paper with an eraser.

B, print directly onto the plate.

C, cut into the plate with sharp tools.

Or D, ink the plate and then remove ink with tools or textures before printing.

Have a think about what the correct answer is, pause the video and when you're ready to resume hit play.

Of course, the answer was D.

In the subtractive monoprint technique, you ink the plate and then remove ink with tools or textures before printing.

Now you can take this technique further by layering different objects or materials into the ink.

Each texture or material or object is going to leave its own unique imprint.

For example, if you press lace or textured fabric or here, we've got a paintbrush and some plastic sort of cling film, or plastic wrap, or a plastic bag.

That will move areas and create intricate surface patterns in ways that might not be created if you're just using mark-making tools.

And we've got an example of that here of some different sort of textured icons we've got a sort of like lace border on the right hand side and then we've got some bubble wrap on the left hand side there as well already with ink on it.

What I want you to do is to think about if you were working with creating a really textured and expressive monoprint.

What are some of the materials and techniques and tools and objects you think you might use to achieve that objective? So either have a seat yourself, talk to someone at home, talk to a partner and when you're ready to resume the video just hit play.

So we've got some ideas here from two of Oak National Academy's pupils Izzy and Jacob and talking about some of the things they might do.

It'd be interesting to see if they are similar to the ideas that you came up with.

So Jacob is saying that he's got a box filled with scraps of fabric, rags, cloth, you know, things like lace.

And that he'd use them to create an interesting surface pattern.

Whereas, Izzy talks about maybe using found and foraged materials.

I quite liked because she's talking about using forage materials from nature like leaves or pine cones, but also there's like a contrast here.

She's talking about even using old technology parts like a motherboard from a computer.

You can imagine it can't you, the circuitry and all the different components, capacitors and microchips and things on there and wires and solder, solid bits of solder, that will create such interesting varied textures.

I wonder what your ideas were, how they compared to Izzy or Jacob's.

Maybe you had some of the same ideas, maybe you had some different ideas.

Now there are lots of contemporary artists and printmakers that continue to develop the technique and processes of printmaking, which in itself is a very old artistic technique.

And a few of them that you could have a look at for inspiration are coming up in a minute.

So Imhathai Suwatthanasilp is a Thai artist whose work explored memory, identity and the human body.

She is particularly known for her delicate use of human hair which she weaves, stitches and incorporates into drawings, prints, objects and installations.

Hair for Suwatthanasilp becomes a symbolic material carrying personal and collective histories as as well as themes of intimacy and impermanence.

Her practice often investigates the fragile connections between people, blending craft traditions with conceptual art to evoke emotion and reflection.

Here in Britain, Maureen Sweeney is a contemporary printmaker whose practice centers on experimental approaches to monoprinting and layered mark-making.

She's known for pushing the boundaries of traditional printmaking by combining painterly gesture, texture and color with the spontaneity of one-off impressions.

Miss Sweeney often draws inspiration from natural forms, memory and abstraction, using her prints to capture movement and emotion.

Through her explorations, she highlights the immediacy and unpredictability of the monoprint process, treating each work as both a finished piece and an experiment in technique.

Joy Yamusangie is a British Congolese visual artist whose multidisciplinary practice spans painting, printmaking and installation.

Their work explores themes of identity, memory, queerness and diaspora, often reflecting on personal and collective experiences of the black community.

Yamusangie draws inspiration from jazz, storytelling and everyday life, using vibrant color and expressive forms to create dreamlike scenes, that challenge speaks ideas of gender and culture.

They also celebrate their trans-Marxian identity through music, extending their artistic voice across the medium.

So if we compare the methods that we've looked at, direct drawing monoprint capture line and pressure.

Subtracted monoprints create texture and contrast.

Both are expressive in different ways.

So remember, monoprints are not meant to look perfect or repeatable.

That's the whole point.

They're unique.

Remember mono, one, one print, a unique print.

Their power is in their expression and creativity in their unpredictability.

It's the fact that they create such unique results that makes them so interesting.

Let's just check that we understand this concept.

So this is true or false.

In monoprinting, each print will be unique.

Have a think about the question, pause the video.

When you're ready to check if you were right, press play.

That's right, the answer is true.

If you want to challenge yourself a bit further, have a think about why.

It's true because monoprints are valued precisely because they are unique and cannot be exactly repeated.

So I've been looking forward to this part of the lesson for a long time now and it's this time where you're going to get to experiment with subtractive monoprinting, which I think is so exciting.

So what I want you to do is I want you to think about what you want to express for your choice of imagery, shapes or patterns.

What's the theme? Is it something to do with emotion, the natural world, some sort of message, something to do with family, culture, heritage? Maybe you're going to take inspiration from some of those artists that we just heard about.

Once you've thought about what you want to express through your choices that you make.

You need to apply a smooth layer of ink to your plate and then use tools to remove it and ideally add some really interesting textures and expressive mark to do so.

You might want to take an image, put it behind your inked plate and use it as a guide or be a bit more free hand, totally up to you.

You need to experiment and come up with the expression of what you want to achieve yourself.

Remember about these different colors and contrasts.

And you might also want to use digital tools to edit, adjust or enhance your print as a bit of an extra.

So while you're doing that, leave the instructions up, pause the video and come back when you're ready to compare what you've been able to create to some of the examples we might see from our Oak pupils here in the lab.

So we've got Jun's examples here and I just think these are absolutely stunning.

I'm a big big fan of landscape paintings, paintings of the natural landscape.

I just absolutely adore them.

Watercolors, prints, photography, you name it, it's landscape.

I absolutely love it and I love what Jun has been able to produce here.

And what Jun's actually done is quite clever.

So Jun's used a variety of materials to draw with and create texture.

You can see that currently looks like there's been some sort of like initial smudging with something round and bigger on the crest of the mountains and down at the right in the foreground in the sort of sky area, the sun or the moon.

A lot of material, a lot of ink has been taken away there, both very, very thickly and with a lot of pressure and then quite lightly to the side.

And then you've got these really interesting sort of horizontal scratched mark to create the line of the mountains and some of the texture in the foreground.

And what Jun's also done is Jun's messed around with this digitally to producing another sort of a version of it which is just really fascinating because actually, even though it's the same image the color difference totally changes it almost to my eyes.

And what Jun did is that they scanned the print in and then digitally inverted it to reveal even more contrast and I think that really comes across, it's almost like a hidden art behind the art sometimes see these television programs where art historians show you the original painting behind the one that we see today and I really get that vibe from Jun.

I think it's really, really interesting.

Maybe you did something similar.

And then you might have created something like this as well based on a portrait, and you can see that it's been manipulated how to give different sorts of color edits and tonal edits.

So this was by Sofia, and Sofia said that she based hers on a portrait after printing it and you'll recognize it actually from some of the how-to steps of this lesson.

How Sofia was able to take away different parts of the ink using different tools to get different textures and she's printed it in one color and then scanned it in and experimented with digital edits to change the colors and the tone.

It's amazing how the different color change gives a very different feel to what is essentially the same image in terms of mark-making and composition.

So both these examples show how subtractive monoprinting can combine physical and digital processes for even more expressive outcomes.

So whatever you managed to create I'm sure is amazing and maybe you've got some similarities to Sofia and Jun, but maybe one thing you weren't able to do was to bring in that digital process at the end of your subtractive monoprinting.

So whatever you've predicted, if you didn't manage to do that digital aspect, do have a go at that.

Take a photo, scan it in, use some digital photo or image editing software, play around with the contrast, play around with the colors and you'll be able to come up with quite different results and show your creative side off even more.

So to summarize, monoprinting is all about uniqueness.

It creates artwork that can't be exactly repeated.

Expressive marks come from varying line, pressure and texture on an ink plate.

We've explored two methods, direct drawing and subtractive monoprinting, each with its own expressive quality.

I hope you had as much fun following along this lesson and having a go at the two different monoprinting techniques as I did talking to you about them.

I look forward to seeing you again in another art lesson at the Oak National Academy.

Goodbye.