Tonight I got the Akua ink out and tried something completely new to me–monoprinting! (I have the ink because I usually use it for wood block printing.)
“How hard can it be?” I said to myself.
Answer: very hard.
Now, maybe it’s because it’s so late at night (for me, anyway) or that I am on a time crunch to get some kind of small sketch done–regardless of what it is or how it turns out–in a timely manner about every other day, but I’ve always found subtractive art processes to very difficult. I am very much an additive art gal, and thinking backwards ESPECIALLY after a long day kind of hurts my brain. So please cut this gal some slack.
For those unfamiliar with the monoprinting technique, What you basically have is a plate of clear glass or plastic over white paper that you coat with dark ink and then ERASE in varying degrees with a Q tip and/or rag to bring out your white tones. Blacks can always be made blacker, but whites really can’t be made whiter after pulling a print. The “mono” in monoprint means “one,” which means you get only one print, as opposed to a linoleum or wood block, which can yield as many prints as you can stand to do.
I wonder what the gal in my picture is thinking. Any ideas?
Long Days Drawn Out 
That’s quite good! How did you make the polka dots? I have got try it some time.
I went back with a dark black pencil after printing—I think that’s the only way my brain can handle details! One thing I had a really hard time with though, is that sometimes the ink seemed to kind up pile up on itself when I went in with brushes and paper towels to wipe away the white areas. Is that just me or am I doing something wrong?