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What are monoprints and monotypes
Also known as the most painterly method among the printmaking techniques , monoprints and monotypes are essentially printed paintings.
The characteristic of this method is that no two prints are alike; although images can be similar, editioning is not possible. The appeal of the monotype lies in the unique translucency that creates a quality of light very different from a painting on paper or a print, and the beauty of this media is also in its spontaneity and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing mediums.
Q : If the goal is to produce a single painted image, why make a monotype instead of a painting?
A : It would certainly seem pointless to make that image as a unique print. But monotypes combine the spontaneity of printed inks and paper, creating a surface that is unlike any other art.
The monoprint is the most basic type of print which can be as simple as a footprint or handprint. |
Q : Is there a difference between a monotype and a monoprint?
A : Although these two terms are used interchangeably, there is a big difference between one and the other.
A monotype is created by covering a metal plate entirely with etching ink, then removing the ink partially or wholly for the lighter and white areas of the picture being made. This process is carried out using brushes, toothpicks, cotton swabs, foam rubber, fingers, etc. One can also start with a clean plate and apply the ink in various ways, but as etching ink is a fairly unmanageable substance it is hard to achieve the intended effect. If the ink is too thickly applied it will spread from the pressure when printed, forming a blot. If too thin it won't show up at all. When the picture on the plate is finished, it is run through an etching press with dampened rag paper to form a unique one of a kind print. Almost all the ink transfers fo the paper so it is not possible to make more than one print, hence the prefix mono.
The process of monoprinting and monotype printing is the same, but when doing monotypes the artist works on a clean and unetched plate; with monoprints, however, there is always a pattern or part of an image which is constantly repeated in each print.
Artists often use etched plates or some kind of pattern such as lace, leaves, fabric or even rubber gaskets, to add texture.
This is a difficult technique because not only is the image reversed when printed but while working on the plate it is hard to see what the final effect will be when the print is made. Many effects can be achieved in monotypes that are not possible with any other technique.
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A simple etching transformed into a monoprint
Using an already etched plate, the artist first rolled a thick layer of ink over the entire surface of the print, then using brushes, cotton swabs, sponges and fabric, the artist worked over the image, wiping or adding ink. |
Basic etching, printed before additional ink was applied with brushes |
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Final print
Rapsodia, 2001
© Colleen Corradi |
There are three principle methods of making a monotype:
- The additive or light-field method, in which the image is painted by adding or building up pigment onto the plate
- The subtractive or dark-field method where the entire plate is covered with a thin layer of pigment, which the artist then works out his image by removing some of the pigment with brushes, rags, sticks, or other tools.
- The third is a combination of the two.
How to make a monoprint - the technique
click here |
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