A monoprint is just what it says...mono, meaning one. You get one print from your plate, sometimes one or two "ghost" prints, which are lighter and pick up less paint.
Why do a monoprint, when the whole point of "printing" is to get multiple images from one plate?
Let's look at the process before I answer that.
Supplies you need are very simple, and you probably have around the house:
1. A clear "plate": that could be plexiglas, stretched plastic wrap, glass, yupo, or, as I've used here, a cheap cutting mat from the Dollar Tree.
2. Tube watercolors
3. A small brush, not too soft or floppy
4. tray of water
5. towel
6. a pile or tablet of inexpensive newsprint
7. printing papers....this can be watercolor, card stock, masa, or just about any paper you want to try.
8. A drawing to set under the plate.
9. Alcohol to clean the plate.
When I used plexiglas, I "roughed" it up a bit using steel wool. I need a plate that is slick enough to release the paint but with enough tack to hold the paint on until ready to print.
Step one: Clean the plate with alcohol to get rid of any oils that might keep the paint from sticking.
Step two: Put your drawing underneath the clear plate and tape it to the back.
Paint directly onto the plate using watercolor straight from the tube. Little or no water.
Allow it to dry completely. You can dry on a cool blow dryer if needed.
Cut the paper you want to print on to the size you want. Soak paper in a tray, then place inside a towel to absorb excess water. You want it wet, but not shiny.
Open your tablet of newsprint and set your painted plate inside.
Lay the damp paper over the painted plate, and gently pat onto paint.
Close the tablet and gently rub with your hand to encourage the paint onto the print paper.
You CAN use a brayer, but sometimes it puts too much pressure and smears the paint.
Your first print should be very colorful. Textures depend on what paper you have chosen to print on. We used print paper, copy paper, rice paper, and masa paper.
Below is the first print on the left. Second or "ghost" print in the middle; third ghost print on the right.
If you have letters or numbers on your picture, remember they will be printed backward, so you will have to paint them in reverse.
Here is a blue bird that I did a monoprint of.
Sunflowers on inexpensive watercolor paper and on card stock.
Cowboy Bob
Monoprinting on Yupo
In spite of the fact that paint on yupo slips and slides, it's not as much as on a plexiglas. So you CAN prepare a print on it without going directly from the tube, as long as the paint is fairly thick.
You can do it just as you would on plexiglas, but you can't see through it (unless you get the transparent kind), so you might have to draw first.
But there's another way to do this. You can cover your entire piece of yupo with paint and let it dry.
Then, using water and a fine brush, remove paint to create whites.
Then continue to paint in details where you want them.
Use the same process for wetting and blotting your paper and rubbing to make the print come off.
A brayer works on this better than the other kind for some reason.
Below you can see the painted yupo, the first print and the ghost print .
So back to the original question...Why would you bother to do a monoprint?
Some people use it to experiment quickly with color combinations before they commit to a larger more complicated piece. You can use it to make cards that you want to be original. You don't have to keep drawing it over and over again, because the drawing is taped to the back of the plate, and you can always see it.
A monoprint can be an original unique piece of art itself. You can easily make changes on it by wiping mistakes off the plate with water. and can use it without a drawing to be completely expressive. You can use it for the base of a pen and watercolor painting, especially some of the ghost prints.
Also, you can use extremely inexpensive materials. You don't need super high quality watercolor paper to get an attractive result
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