Looking back over the first term at the University of Hertfordshire, I found that I have used printmaking as a way of working through my ideas both visually and sculpturally. I found that there were problems in my work that drawing on its own was not resolving. I had an introduction during a workshop with Tutor Mike Wright and after this initial trial in Monotype, I went back to the print room on several occasions through Semester A and B to burrow down into the process of printmaking in resolving some of these visually intellectual questions I was raising with my installation work.
Initial attempts at montotype.
I found these initial prints quite frustrating. I knew I achieve better results so, I booked the print room for two days solid to try and get into the technique.
11th November getting plate inked up 
first trials at making cells work 
finding forms with the cloth and cardboard edge 
detail of inked plate
side view of inked plate with cut paper sculpture as a template
I started this printmaking session with a cut out paper sculpture as a starting point. I made some first and second pulls with this and then laid it to one side. I then went on to make another plate with drawing elements and painting with white spirit and ink. I then put this plate to one side and used the original plate, cleaning it and starting an embossing with a string grid. I made variations of this and then brought the paper template back to this string plate and made some more impressions using this motif mixing some drawn/painted elements with the spirit.
I returned the following day to work on the cells idea I had been developing in my sketchbook. I had made more prints than this but they got lost as it was reading week and somehow my prints were not all there when I returned. On the plate I was drawing with the edge of a piece of card and using a cloth with spirit on to tease out the forms inside the cells. On the final print shown here, I went on to develop the structure by ragging out the cells and drawing more prints until this image faded.
Monoprint workshop 18th November Outcomes
I jointed the mono print workshop as it was undersubscribed so I thought I would use the opportunity to make some more work. I deliberately over-inked the plate (figure 1) and printed from this onto shiny paper, producing outlines of the drawings made with white spirit. I was intentionally trying to push the processes by using the materials to their limits. These cloud like forms, which occurred from the spread of the ink(figure 2 and 3) were very pleasing because the inks and spirit did not absorb into the paper, which would have happened with more expensive and appropriate printing paper. I then introduced string across the plate which caused a disruption in the surface and in the paper as it caused the press to form ridges around the string and plate.
In this final set I made, I used and inked plate to lay the tissue paper on and did the drawing using a piece of cardboard directly onto the tissue, both on its side and flat to make thicker marks.
Outcomes
Accessing a number of workshops and processing my studio research in this way, I have unlocked a rich seam of imagery and this has led to a shift in my drawing practice. In the studio I have been making large scale drawings on paper. With this direct way of applying drawing I have found a less inhibited way of working. I want to move this across to the studio and make direct drawings onto the walls especially of the cells. I will explore this more in my sketchbooks too.
Tina Culverhouse 