I can’t follow instructions.

Not negotiable – I never open the instructions from anything as I can’t follow them. I will watch you tube videos, read articles but then I just have to ‘play’. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but either way I usually get messy and enjoy the process. Lockdown has meant I’ve had time at home to just get out old craft stuff that I’ve not used for a while. .

Monoprinting has been my latest ‘playing’ – I don’t have a printing press so I’ve been using a Gelli Plate – these are inexpenisve and can be bought in many places for £12 upwards – just google, most art stockists will have them.

You need

A gelli plate

one or more paint brayers (rubber rollers)

Acrylic paint – you use very little so the tiny tubes are fine to experiment with

paper -printer paper, cartridge paper, tissue paper, old books

Lots of paper towels or a wet cloth

Start by putting a tiny dot of paint (think your little finger nail) and run the brayer in opposite directions until the plate is covered.

You can mix paint colours to get a painterly back ground

Print a plain background or place a leaf /feather/onto your paint.

Place your paper over the top

Rub over fairly firmly with your hand

Peel the paper back slowly!

Using another sheet of paper – -either plain or a background you’ve painted – lift the leaf off and use the same method to transfer this leaf shape – this is called a Ghost print.

You can layer your prints by using already printed paper rather than plain

If you buy a glossy (ie expensive) magazine you can transfer the images from there into your plate (works best with dark paint)

If you find your outline has dried before you transfer it – cover it with a paler layer of paint and transfer whilst wet.

It’s messy but it’s so therapeutic. You can’t get it wrong – any bits you aren’t keen on … cut them up to use in collages. You can play with colour combinations, opaque and transparent, types of leaves or feathers. You can mark your paint with scrunched paper, stencils, toilet rolls, material anything you want – there are no rules. Just enjoy x

LJ is 5 and she just loved it 🙂