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A quick tutorial on using a rainbow of groceries to make collage papers!
In this Tune In Tuesday, I shared a fun way to create monoprint collage papers using fruits and vegetables. Ever since I saw @margarts on Instagram using a pear to make monoprints, I’ve been itching to try it myself. So I took a trip to the grocery store and picked up a bunch of fruits and vegetables – pears, oranges, fennel, cucumbers, apples, peppers, lemons, endive, corn, and even an onion – to see what kind of collage papers they would create.
Let’s talk supplies. You don’t need much – just some fruits and vegetables, any type of paper, a brayer, and a few fluid acrylic paints in primary colors, plus black, white, and some iridescent gold. Here’s a quick breakdown of what I created:
🍊Starting with an orange and cutting it lengthwise, I applied some blue paint using a brayer and pressed the orange onto mixed media paper. The smell was divine!
🌱 Next up was fennel. After carefully cutting it to get a flat printing surface, I applied some gold on the edges and got a lovely, fragrant print.
🥒 Then came the cucumber, which gave a nice, clean print on drawing paper when paired with yummy green paint.
🥬The endive was a surprising win – beautiful variegated prints that I loved.
🍎When I got to the apple, I found that blotting off a bit of paint before pressing gave the best results.
🫑The bell pepper, with its intricate shape, added cool designs to my prints.
🍋The lemon, paired with rice paper and iridescent gold, created some of my favorite pieces.
🌽Corn was another surprise hit. By rolling it like a rolling pin, I got lovely subtle patterns perfect for collage work.
🧅Even the onion, which I wasn’t so keen on at first, turned out decent prints, thanks to its unique rings.
Not every print was perfect, but that’s the beauty of it – collage allows you to use just the parts you love. The whole idea is to have fun, experiment, and see what works. So go grab some fruits and veggies, and see what fabulous monoprints you come up with.
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Supplies Used
Mixed Media Paper, 108 lb
Rice Paper
Copy Paper
Drawing Paper, 80 lb
Brayer
Gold Iridescent Fluid Acrylic Paint
Nova Acrylic Paint or any other brand
Palette paper
Variety of fruits and veggies. My faves were: Orange, Endive, Pear, Apple, Banana Pepper, Lemon, Corn on the Cob, Onion
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