Tutorial: Leaf Monoprinting for Kids

Yes, you heard me right, you can do printmaking with a two-year-old, get great results and both get some creative satisfaction out of having participated in the process.  Monoprinting is the answer - I think it's much more versatile and sophisticated that the 'polytile' printing that is often kids' first experience of printmaking.  Hey, if its good enough for Tracey Emin, its good enough for us (though I wouldn't recommend her subject matter for young 'uns!).

Monoprinting, as the name suggests, is when you create on unique print (rather than having a plate or a screen with an image which can be reproduced again and again).  There are a number of different ways to make a monoprint, but this morning we retrieved some large leaves from a neighbour's 'green bin', Autumn/Fall is almost here, and I knew I had a stash of small pressed leaves from last Autumn, so these led me to this printmaking session.

Making monoprints is super simple, but you do need a few bits of equipment:

1. a smooth surface to roll ink onto - I use perspex, or you can use glass


2. an ink roller (available at most art shops)


3. ink roller tray - a polystyrene food tray works perfectly


4. printing ink - I used waterbased black printing ink.  (If you are doing monoprinting without little fingers involved then I recommend trying oil-based ink as it dries more slowly and is more versatile)


5. rags for cleaning


6. leaves (particularly effective if pressed)


7. paper - I used some slightly wrinkled newsprint we had from moving house which was actually lovely to work with, but you could also use cartridge.

So here we go:

Roll your ink onto the roller tray to cover the roller and until it makes a nice 'sticky' sound.  Your aim is to cover the roller with a thin layer of ink, not to cover the tray, so go easy with the ink.

Roll the ink onto the perspex/glass to get a reasonably even coverage (I like it 'not perfect' as I think it's more interesting).  Small hands can help here.

Lay leaves (I used pressed ones) onto the inked surface.  Boo enjoyed this bit too.

Place your paper over the image to be printed.  Press firmly over the entire image using the side of your fist.  Small hands can help here too.

Remove the paper to reveal your image.

Ta-da!

We also went on to create other prints by inking over the leaves with a roller and taking a print from that.

We went on to print using the same process from some fresh large leaves we picked up.

... and we finished up with playing in the ink with some toothbrushes (old I hasten to add!), getting dirty and needing a thorough wash, which is surely all part of the fun!

Actually you can also make prints in just this way, but you would need your ink to be freshly rolled out on to the surface.  You can make marks into the ink using whatever tool you can find or devise, have great fun with mark-making and then take a print from it.

Monoprinting rocks.