Work Hard, Play Harder

Taking work home with me has never been better.

Just when I was about to say that my little side endeavors were creeping into my every day…and causing more than a little burnout at the start of a new school year….

Just when I was about to discuss the trade-offs of lettering for money versus for fun…

Just when I was…Well, you get my drift.

But, then…I get a second wind out of nowhere!

Well, not exactly nowhere…

I haven’t been posting in my stories regularly. No doubt, I’ve still been working on my calligraphy every chance I get. But, I’ve been also trying to learn a skill to teach to my students…and every free second helps.

This is a monoprint.

Once upon a time, as a painting student, I enjoyed monoprinting using glass plates and wanted to learn more about it and some other forms of printmaking. I took a survey class to get an overview of printmaking, but it didn’t work out for me. The teacher got sick and the class was full of printmakers who already knew what they were doing (and completely divorced to the notion of sharing). I didn’t learn much and I just moved on. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Fast forward, and I was re-introduced to monoprinting again through the Delaware Arts Conference in 2018 when I first started teaching at my current school. The workshop was held by a Gelli Arts instructor. I was clueless about the conference at the time and had only meandered into the room just to see what was going on. Unfortunately, I had already missed the demo. But, in the few short minutes I got to print, I had a great time just experimenting with the materials and I wanted a set for my students. Unfortunately, at the time, I had already spent my budget on the essentials. But, I took a mental note.

At this year’s conference I had a front row seat in the gelli arts demo! And, I was able to afford the mini class set for students with our school budget. I also purchased some larger plates and materials for myself and for my advanced students to use, when needed, or as the inspiration strikes. I bought some extra tools to keep at home to teach myself a few tricks. The above prints were made using those tools and some tempera paint. It’s too expensive a set to just let it sit.

I’ve got A TON of ideas for how my students can take advantage of this set!

Typically, gelli printing is done with acrylic paints. But, as our students wear uniforms and tend to paint each other from time-to-time 😬, we only purchase washable tempera paints. But, they still work.

At home, I use the same type of paint usually to be sure I know if something I tell them to do will actually work in the classroom. It’s also good for my own kid that it’s washable.

So, of course, with all this experimentation, I began wondering if I’d ever use it in lettering art.

I couldn’t help thinking that the prints can be a contrasting mat for when I create a piece of calligraphy…or even a background if it was subtle enough. They can be used to make cards or even standalone art. I also thought a good set of markers could be used over some prints too. Maybe we’ll see how that all shakes out at some point.

Tonight, however, it’s all digital because tomorrow is a school day and homegirl is not cleaning up any paint tonight.

Take a look at how the textures I created above in the classroom transformed an otherwise monotone piece of lettering.

For these, I added the print as a clipping mask over a color clipping mask. Then, I tested a few blending modes to find a combination I liked…of which there were many!

This may be the only lettering I’ve ever done that suits these gorgeous ShoutBam mock-ups! 🔥

At any rate, it was a fun way to come down from a season of busy-ness.

Welp, that slump didn’t last long, did it?