Rain Storm Monoprinted Process Art

Need a rainy day project? Create a monoprinted rain storm with this fun process art project. Simple step-by-step directions show how easy it is to create a seasonal version like this rain storm art, or adapt the project to make it your own.

Process art is a term often used when teaching kids to explore art and creativity because it emphasizes the “process” of making art rather than the result of the final product. Since kids learn through play and open-ended activities, process art is important because it allows them to experiment and discover what they like or don’t like.

Serity (6) and Lydia (4) have experimented enough to know they love painting. For a while it was even a daily request and they’d paint sheet after sheet of paper, filling all the white space with either one color or a mix of colors–keeping our painted paper supply nicely stocked for future projects! So I thought it would be fun to introduce a few new ideas and tools to their painting process. And the results–raging rain storm monoprinted process art.

Here’s what we used to make these Monoprinted Process Art Rain Storms:

• Sticky-backed foam
• Thick foam (such as 3- or 5-mm)
• Scissors
• Tempera Paint (we used a variety of blues, purples, and gray)
• Small paint roller
• Heavy paper (we used white card stock)
• “Printing palette” (we used a large picture frame with glass)
• Optional texture tools (such as mesh, bubble wrap, or stencils)

Handmade “Rain” Stamps

First, we created some handmade foam stamps. Since we’ve been having rainy weather I suggested we make some “rain” stamps, but the term was loosely followed and we ended up with a collection of shapes.

Creating your own stamps is easy! Cut a variety of shapes from sticky-backed foam, then remove the paper and stick to a piece of thick (3 or 5mm) foam. You can usually find both sizes together in the craft store.

Monoprinted Rain Storm Art

Next we prepared a “printing palette” with paint. I monitored this by pre-selecting a handful of colors I knew would go well together, but would also not make “mud” when mixed. Because they love to mix their paint!

Then I showed the girls a few ways to paint with the tools I set out, and let them go crazy by creating rainstorms with their own experimental processes.

To create monoprinted rainstorms, pour a small amount of paint on the flat surface and roll a thin layer of paint to cover it.

In that paint layer, stamp with your foam stamps or a texture tool (such as mesh or bubble wrap), then lay a sheet of paper over the frame and press evenly with your hands. Lift the paper to see the transferred image–called a “monoprint” because the results will be unique with each print.

After the monoprinting, you can add more layers by stamping with the foam stamps, texture tools, adding more paint, etc. We used the paint directly from the “printing palette” to load the stamps with more paint.

The girls stayed busy for over an hour until they were “forced” to clean up for dinner! Such a fun project, with unique results! Try a seasonal version such as this rain storm art, or adapt to make the project your own.