Table-top monoprints

Step one....draw....ON THE TABLE!  the kids freak out just a little the first time we do this (in a good way).  There is something kind of 'rule breaking' about it that is pretty exciting.

Notice the pink laminated sheets?  Those are another monoprinting tool.  Sometimes we draw on those and print using our printing presses, but drawing on the table is so much fun that here we used them as a template to trace around so the pictures didn't get too big for our paper.

Once the drawings are done, students wet paper....

then blot it a bit with a towel...

before taking it back to their table and placing it over their table-top picture.  Rolling over the papers with a brayer helps the kids get even pressure over their entire picture.  We used to just press/rub with our hands, but the brayers work SO much better!

After they have rolled over every inch of the paper, I have students wait... usually I have them count to 20....before peeling their paper away from the table to see their picture.

The trickiest part of monoprinting from a marker drawing is getting the paper just the right amount of wet :)  If the paper is too dry, the picture won't transfer....too wet, and it's a blurry mess (you'll see the bottom of the print above was pretty wet - the red border ran a bit)

It's a great intro to how printing works - have the kids put their print beside what is left of their picture on the table and see if they spot any differences.  It usually takes kids a few guesses before someone notices their image is reversed.