This is a 30-day invitation to loosen up, show up, and fall back in love with the act of making marks.
Using a gel plate or a simple piece of perspex, you’ll explore one daily mark-making prompt designed to gently stretch your creative muscles. Some days will be playful and light, others more focused and reflective — all of them grounded in experimentation rather than perfection.
The prompts move through dots, lines, textures, layers, subtraction, rhythm, repetition, emotion, and scale. You’ll work with found tools, your hands, ghost prints, bold gestures, minimal marks and everything in between. Each day builds a growing visual language and a generous stash of printed “creative fodder” you can draw on for future projects.
Alongside the making, you’ll be offered short daily reflection prompts — not to overthink, but to notice. To observe what surprised you, where you hesitated, what felt natural, and how your marks shifted when control was released. These reflections help turn process into insight and play into practice.
This challenge is about freedom, curiosity and momentum. It’s about making regularly, in good company, and staying accountable together through daily group check-ins. There is no right outcome and no finished work required — just participation, presence, and a willingness to explore.
If you’re craving structure without pressure, experimentation without expectation, and a creative rhythm that nourishes both your practice and your wellbeing, this challenge is for you.
Come and make marks with us.
Material List
This is my go-to mono printing materials list, shared to save you the trouble of hunting everything down as you slowly build your creative space and fall in love with the world of printmaking.
I have included some affiliated links to my trusted art stores. If you choose to use them, the store sends a small commission my way (no cost to you), which helps me keep creating free resources for you, so thank you!
And please don’t feel you need to buy everything at once; these are simply my favourite essentials, handy extras, and a few treats you can pick up whenever the time feels right.
- Gel Plate or acrylic monoprint plate
- Soft rubber roller , I especially love my 4″, it’s a great size
- Paper, thick, thin, or coloured, anything you can get your hands on. I use between 100gsm – 260gsm
- Inks – my go-to favourites are Golden Open inks. Water washup.
- Baren – this one is especially smooth to slide
- Spray bottle + rags for clean up
- Mark making/texture tools: Cotton swabs, pencils, stiff brushes, sponges, stencils, or bubble wrap.
- Drop sheet, or protective coating for your work area
Now get printing!
Stop scrolling and start creating, it won’t magically appear while you’re admiring your screen!
1 – Dots, dabs and repetition
What happens when you commit to repetition instead of variety?
2 – Lines that wander
How does the speed of your hand change the feeling of the marks?
3 – Organic vs Geometric
Which type of mark feels more natural to you — and why?
4 – Found tools only
No brushes allowed, what surprised you about the tools you chose to?
5 – One shape, many ways
How many personalities can a single shape hold?
6 – Texture rubbings
What did the surface teach you that your hand couldn’t plan?
7 – Thick vs thin marks
Which carries more energy for you — weight or delicacy?
8 – Accidental marks
What did you almost reject, and what happened when you didn’t?
9 – Nature-inspired marks
Walk and collect – did you observe nature, or interpret it from memory?
10 – Pattern build-Up
At what point did the pattern turn into rhythm?
11 – Negative space play
What role did the untouched areas play in the final print? Was it more interesting?
12 – Scratches, scrapes and subtraction
How did removing material change the work?
13 – Hands only
How did direct contact affect your confidence or control?
14 – Rhythmic marks
Pop on some tunes, did your body lead the marks, or did the marks lead your body?
15 – Soft and faded impressions
What beauty lives in restraint or imperfection?
16 – Bold, confident statements
Where did you hesitate, and where did you commit fully?
17 – Layer, print, re-print
What emerged only because you kept going?
18 – Ghost prints only
What do the quieter versions reveal?
19 – Overlapping shapes
How do interactions between shapes create new meaning?
20 – Mark making without looking
What shifted when control was removed?
21 – Emotional marks
Which emotion came through most clearly in your marks?
22 – Minimal marks
What is truly necessary, and what can be let go?
23 – Scale shift
How does scale change the impact of a familiar mark?
24 – Directional flow
Where does the eye want to travel and why?
25 – Time-limited printing
What decisions did you make faster than usual?
26 – Monochrome exploration
How did tone and texture replace colour?
27 – Collaged marks
What happens when you disrupt the original order?
28 – Repeat yesterday’s plate
What changed when you revisited
the same surface?
29 – Your signature mark
Which marks feel unmistakably yours?
30 – Wild card
Looking back, pick a favourite day and redo. What surprised you most about your process?
