Mono Print Photos

Using different inks and materials I have created a series of A4 mono prints related to a relevant artist, i.e. Tilleke Schwarz. I did this by drawing an image onto thin paper with another piece underneath. I then placed the papers onto a thin layer of ink and drew over the top of my image so that the picture was printed into the ink below the second piece of paper. After firstly doing this with only black ink I then decided to add other primary ink colours to my pieces. For this I used a graphite stick to rub over the top of the area where I wanted the particular colour. This sometimes worked well, i.e. the red cat, however on some of the images, i.e. the white cat, the ink ran over my outer lines and made the image look faded and scruffy. After I was happy with my end pieces of work, I left them on the wire drying rack until I later took photos of them individually.

My first attempt was the white cat with thick black lines. I did not add any other colour to this which made it look like a simply sketch. However it was difficult to keep this image still, therefore creating two sets of outlines which I did not want. I tried to keep the image as still as possible the next few times I did this process.

My second attempt was the white cat. I felt this was my worst piece as I simply used my finger to colour in the white ink, and this made the ink smudge too far and print over the black outlines, making the cat look faded and messy. I could've improved this by using the graphite stick as I did in my last two pieces.

The third attempt was the red cat which I think is my best piece. I like this image because not only is the colour inside the outlines, it looks neat and tidy, and even though there are blank spaces in between the colour it looks as though this is done diliberately for effect and to make the image more interesting. I used a graphite stick for this effect. For this image I also added white ink to the legs, tail and ears to create a pinkier ink colour and make the piece more intriguing. I was definitely most pleased with this cat over the rest.

For the fourth attempt I used a yellow ink and a graphite stick to colour it. I also used more black ink not only on the outlines but on the legs, tail and face, copying the red cat somewhat. I am not so happy with this however as the lines look scruffy and the colouring looks more like a first attempt effort than a last. I feel I could've done slightly better on this one if I'd have had more time to finish.

I feel my work on the mono prints was successful overall and was a good learning step which I found interesting and fun. I learned that using different tools can help to make better effects and that the prints can sometimes look scruffy if care is not taken, however this is not always a bad thing. This sometimes makes the images more intriguing to look at.