Watercolour monotypes

A first attempt at printing monotypes from watercolour painted on yupo. Years ago Rhonda Carpenter, incredibly kindly, sent me a sample of yupo to try, when I couldn't find it here in Johannesburg - I eventually found and bought a pack and am finally experimenting! I like the slippery quality of watercolours on this surface, and the clear bright tones you can get, but wanted to try monotypes, so sacrificed the original paintings on the left of each set. 

My first painting, of random objects on my studio windowsill, was very fast, loose and drippy - impatient to get a print made. I didn't dampen the watercolour paper enough to get a good print from the original, but like what was left behind on the yupo .

The second painting was more detailed and careful - starting to enjoy making compositions from these little objets! Quite unpredictable results in the print... the line I drew around the seedpod came out much darker than I'd planned. I'd wet the paper for longer but still didn't pick up as much paint as I'd hoped (the 'doctored' cellphone pic is deceptive!) 

The third attempt was more successful - soaked the watercolour paper for longer - and the print was almost darker in parts than the original.

If you want to try - paint your image onto clean grease-free yupo with watercolour. Make sure it has plenty of pigment to water ratio. While it's drying, soak some smooth watercolour paper - I used hot press 300 gsm - in water for about 10 minutes. Blot with a clean towel or paper towel to remove excess water and place over the image. Rub well all over the paper with the back of a spoon, or other smooth object (I used a pot of handcream with rounded edges), remove and hopefully there will be a monotype... I haven't perfected the process and probably won't without a proper press, but quite excited at the results!