This week I taught a workshop in monotype / monoprint.
The students loved it, and many of them returned the next day to mass-produce more prints,
it reminded me how much fun the process can be!
I usually demonstrate the basics of additive and subtractive methods first,
and then introduce alternative techniques of using stencils and texture, and tracing etc
I must say I also learned something new this week:
Monotypes are when the artist works on a clean and unetched plate.
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| Ruth Sumner, Grid, 1998 Monotype / Monoprint |
I must say I also learned something new this week:
I've always thought of the terms monoprint and monotype as being the same thing.
Although the process is exactly the same, I discovered there is a distinction between the two terms.
Monotypes are when the artist works on a clean and unetched plate.
Such as this example from Beth Charles.
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| Beth Charles, Half Light, 2010 Monotype, collage and pastel, 56x43cm |
Monoprints are defined by the inclusion of a pattern or part of an image which is repeated in each print.
Artists may use plates etched with an outline or complete image
and select areas to add or subtract ink to add painterly effects,
or they may incorporate some kind of repeated pattern such as lace or leaf textures.
This second example has an etched silhouette with the monoprinted sky.and select areas to add or subtract ink to add painterly effects,
or they may incorporate some kind of repeated pattern such as lace or leaf textures.
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| Beth Charles, Epicentre, 2009 Monoprint, collage and stitch on paper, 59x64cmm. (Finalist in the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Award, 2010) |
I hope that might help clarify the terms for you as well.
Here is a great video from Double Elephant Print Workshop (UK)
showing the monoprint process:
And let us know if there are monotype & monoprint artists you like
by adding a comment to this post (with website if possible).
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