Last Wednesday, I signed up to a monoprinting workshop with Caroline.
We were taught how to use the huge press to create prints and how to use newsprint to create interesting stencils to ink up. After that, we were pretty much left to experiment!
The key to using the press safely and correctly is to ensure the print has newsprint paper on both sides, to protect the blankets and press from any ink as it rolls through. Wet paper prints best for the first run through (but after that, you can’t wet it again as the ink runs!). Place the blankets over the print flat, and turn the wheel to run your print through the roller once forwards and back.
This is an example of a stencil I used in my printing. I experimented with crumpled paper, because ink would roll heavily onto some areas and miss others to create an interesting texture. I liked the idea of juxtaposing sharp cut squares against the organic crumpled folds.
This wasn’t put through the press, but here’s an example of using a stencil (a question mark) and inking around it. I monoprinted with some leaves, but in my experimenting I found I actually liked the pink and yellow leaves more than the prints they produced! I’ve since put them through the photocopier to preserve how they look forever.
These last two images were things I thought were just too pretty to lose.
How has this research helped me? The main advantage I’ve gained from taking this workshop is that now I can book in with Caroline and use the resources freely when I need them. Monoprinting is useful for creating basic textures and interesting, unique backgrounds. If I monoprint onto newsprint, I could collage with it and know that what I was creating was wonderfully unique.
I signed onto the letterpress workshop with Ruth today. It was really interesting, especially seeing it alongside reading Type & Typography so I could place it historically into context.
We worked with a Galley Press (I think that’s what it was called!). This involved setting type into a metal tray using “furniture”, which includes all the pieces of metal like leading used to space and hold type in place. The type we worked with today was wooden blocks.
This is an example of how you’d set the type. The metal to the far left of the picture is actually a strong magnet that held the word “writing” in place. Ideally, I’d have used more magnets in setting the type but Ruth only had 8 in the whole studio… and there were 8 students. This is an experimental piece. When these have dried, I’ll stick the white paper onto the off-white back sheet with “RAVEN” printed on it. This is printing and shadow printing (printing again, offset, without re-inking) onto a scrap piece of paper full of mechanical diagrams. I like this a lot for how busy it is.
How was the workshop useful? I took letterpress because I was so interested in it and have been for years; I hope to be able to use it in personal projects or when my art brief becomes appropriate. I have to book in with Ruth a couple of days in advance if I plan to be in the printing room – but I’m just so glad I have the resource available now.
I also learned a lot about the practicalities of letterpress printing with this method. I know how to clean my hands correctly to remove the oil paint (that is, rub vegetable oil in followed by a gritty soap paste by the sink). I also know why letterpress requires oil-based type, and is one of the only printing forms that has not been replaced by water-based ink. (It’s because water would interfere with the wooden type, and would print slightly less well.)
Where am I going to take this? I can’t say I have any practical ideas in my head right now, except maybe for typesetting a poem or something smaller scale as experimentation. I’ll stick some of my experimentation into my sketchbook, and maybe mount the rest onto a complete worksheet. When the right brief comes along, I’ll definitely book in again!
Gemma's Art 
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