Drawing and mono prints at City Lit

On Sunday I had a very productive class at the City Lit.  This is a two day class on two consecutive Sundays.

We spent the day learning how to draw mono prints.  Although I have done mono printing on fabric, I had never learned how to do it properly.  So I now know how to ink up properly by spreading the ink properly with a roller, before inking the drawing plate.  We created artwork by drawing on the plate before applying the paper, applying paper then drawing on top, applied pressure manually using a burrin (round bamboo leaf covered pressure pad) and printing press.  We used solvent to move the ink on the printing plate and take different effects from the plate.  The tutor, Sharon, commented that I produced a lot of work, but I was just working at my usual pace.  I wanted to produce a lot of prints in order to have a range of raw material to work into further.  I created a lot of variations on a heme, drawing spoons and potato peelers.  I left my artwork at class, to dry out, sufficient to being home next week.  My work was all one colour, black, but some other students used some red ink too.  I was more successful using the burrin than using the printing press.  I tried soaking a sheet of cartridge paper, squeegeeing it dry, then pressing in blotting paper.  However I was too hasty and put the paper and design through the press too soon, leading to some of the cartridge paper sticking to the plate.  Having wrecked it, I felt completely free to use it further and took a successful ghost print from it by repressing it with another sheet of paper.

For next week, I think I should prepare some prepared cut and torn shapes, and maybe some traced images so I can draw accurately (hands are too difficult to draw completely freehand).  Also I need to use some other drawing implement (not the stick end of a paintbrush) to get a different mark.  like what?  Broken twig?  eraser?  Italic nib?