This last month or so I’ve explored combining monoprinting with painting and collage.

A ‘monoprint’ is a one-time image painted or rolled onto a surface and then transferred (printed) onto paper. It’s not even possible to create a copy of the original.

There are lots of ways to make one-off prints without having a printing press and I’ve shared a couple of my own videos here as well as created a list of monoprinting videos on my YouTube channel.

A few years ago, I bought a gelatin plate, but never really knew what to do with it. A Gelli Plate is a moist gelatin-like slab. Because of its soft surface, it is extremely receptive to picking up impressions.  And because it has an oily surface, it is possible to print using acrylic paints.

They are rather pricey, but you can also make your own.  I tried and failed at that and bought one instead. But there are recipes online and I’d like to try again!

Although I’d made monoprints in the past, I had never added paint or collage to them. I had previously thought that it was almost a sin to add paint to a print. That belief is now, thankfully, gone.

This online class gave me the opportunity to experiment with the medium. Jane Davies’ 6 weekly classes included:

• weekly videos
• weekly pages of illustrated instructions
• lots and lots of homework
• a closed blog where I and 25 other participants posted our results
• feedback from the instructor and others

But even without taking a class, Jane Davies has loads of free videos on her YouTube channel that will inspire you.

However, for me, there is something compelling about the discipline of taking a course and having specific tasks to do. I definitely would not have developed the work I did without the class setting, even though it was at a distance. Here is a full list of her online classes.

I’ve thought for a long time about offering an online class in painting. I’ve some ideas. Please leave me a comment about whether that would interest you.

All the images in this post are ‘homework’ pieces created during the class. I am back to my easel painting now, but with a new eye for design, shape, colour and texture. And perhaps with a new appreciation of the quiet places in a work of art.

Every new thing we experiment with or learn impacts on the way we see. I’m looking forward to ‘discovering’ how this impacts on my painting.