Sasano-Bori wood carving

Sasano-Bori are traditional Japanese carvings of birds. They are made from small branches using a carving tool called a Sarukiri, more like a meat cleaver than anything we use in the west for carving wood. Farmers in the village of Sasano spend their winters sitting by the fire carving the sasanobori birds, which were originally made to solicit the favor of the gods during war.[1][2]

Botanical monotypes

Mary Margaret Briggs uses plants in her monotype works.



She says little about the physical process, but if you watch closely you can see how the grass is sandwiched between the canvass and the inked plate.

Making a gelatin plate

Printing from a gelatin plate uses water based inks. Very little pressure is needed, so no press is needed. This video shows how to make the gelatin plate.

Monotype print making demonstration

Today we have a demonstration of the whole process of making a monotype print: