Drawings & Monotypes

In addition to watercolors, other favorite mediums are monotypes and ink drawings, especially for rendering old vehicles and boats.

A monotype is a one of a kind image that has been printed from a prepared printing plate. While monotypes can be printed using a press, mine are hand rubbed. I paint an image on a plexi-glass plate using either watercolor paints or water-based printing inks. After the painting dries, I place a pre-wetted sheet of print paper on top of the plate and hand rub the back of the paper using a combination of tools; a baren (of Japanese/Chinese origin), brayers and/or spoons. The specific tool and the amount of pressure applied will determine the amount of paint that will transfer to the paper and can determine the type of texture in the print.

It is customary to pull two prints. No two prints are alike. The first image will show higher contrasts and clearer colors. The second image sometimes gives more unique textures, but portions of the image will not be as distinct as in the first rubbing. Very rarely can a third image be successfully pulled, but most artists give it a try anyway just to be sure, and will prove to any artist—no matter how stubborn they are—that ‘No, there just ain’t no more that can be made from this plate, so sit down, you’re done’.

Tradition calls for the artist to choose the ‘keeper’, and then in the bottom margin number it as 1/of 1, title it and sign it.

The terms monotype and monoprint are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. The image on a plate used to produce a monoprint is fully or partially etched or carved so that the same image can be reproduced from the plate at some time in the future. In the case of a monotype, once the image has been printed, the ‘master’ image will have been removed from the plate during the printing process and no additional prints can be produced.