Monoprinting Feathers

My dog, Muppet, loves to go walking and that's great for both of us! Frequently, I see beautiful feathers when we walk though our nearby parks and I've been known to pick up the odd, discarded bit of plumage. 😉

When I found the Sizzix Tim Holtz Feather Duo Die and Texture Fade set, I was thrilled! I love the shape of these feathers as they are detailed, but not so detailed as to be fragile. Because I love color, I decided to create my own pretty paper with my new Large Gel Press Plate to use for my die cut feathers.

Whether you are a new or seasoned monoprinter, I highly recommend Gelli Plate Printing – Mixed-media Monoprinting Without a Press, a great resource book by Joan Bess. It's 141 pages of wonderful inspiration and techniques and I still frequently refer to it.

I used my favorite Speedball Brayer with acrylic paint to add many light layers of color to a large sheet of Canson Mix-Media Paper by braying paint on to the Gel Press Plate and printing layer by layer. You have to work quickly when doing this because the paint dries incredibly fast.

After many transparent layers of color, I added some stenciling and a little white paint with a Decorative Brayer. I love this as a finishing detail that brings all the layers together.

After die cutting the feathers with a Big Shot Manual Die Cutting Machine, I carefully molded them in my fingers to give them some movement. Perfect! 

I also wanted larger feathers, so I scanned and enlarged the die cut feathers and created a pattern for the size I wanted. It definitely takes longer to cut the feathers by hand, but it's a good solution if you don't have the die you need or an electronic cutting machine.

To add some detail to the feathers, I drew fine lines with a Black Sharpie Pen or Marker. You have to be absolutely certain that the paint is totally dry, or it will kill a marker in a couple of minutes! 

I'll be using these feathers in a project that we'll finish on the next Drama-free Friday at 2pm EDT. Please join me and we can chat while we create. I'll see you then!

Until next time ~

Remember to Get Creative Today! It's Easy!

Barb