Don't just sit there looking like an idiot!

Read this.


Then look at this.

A Smattering of Work

Here's a look at some monotypes in different styles and techniques that you'll be using throughout the class.


Ruth Weisberg, Separating the Waters, 1996, monotype, 19 3/4 x 27 3/4 inches)


David C. Williams, Damien Hirst Lies Somewhere Between Pimp and Prostitute
30" by 36"
2009


Elie Minjauw


ratpat13 on Flickr, mono4 Watercolor Monotype Plate #2


David Armacost, “Come All Ye Faithful”
11x17"
Monotype Print On Arches Paper


Cuyler Etheredge, Zimbabwe Voter 2


Jylian Gustlin created at the SJICA http://www.sjica.org/
Monotype Marathon 2009


David Yaghjian's monotype, Blue Pants
.
And a series of monotype prints are based on cave drawings found in Lascaux, France by Todd Munro.

Now go make something,
-M

"I Will" Radiohead video by Joshua Freeman using trace monoprint.

From Joshua:

"Here is my first completed animation, it is a Radiohead tribute music video I made for a College project at the South East Essex College in Southend-on-Sea, It took 2 Months of research and idea developement and 4 weeks to make it in, I used monoprints and real footage from the internet to help portray the lyric meaning and emotions in the song I Will, I deliberately made it 4 frames persecond looped to fit the guitar melody and used simple silhouettes and linear imagery, to tell the story. "

Trace Monotype

Jennifer Schmitt, 2008


First:

Some "vocabulary" type words will be linked to definitions. These are words that could help you better communicate your print ideas.

Second:

What's the difference between a "monotype" and a "monoprint"?

From Print Europe:

"Although monotypes and monoprints involve distinctly different processes, the two terms are often used erroneously as synonyms, or are mistakenly used for each other.

A monotype is a single print pulled from a glass or metal plate on which ink or paint has been applied. The image can be transferred to paper by hand rubbing or with a press. A monotype remains one of a kind because it contains no repeatable matrix in the image from which a perfect second impression can be made.

A monoprint begins with a repeatable matrix in the image, such as an etched plate, which could, if desired, be editioned to produce a series of like impressions. What gives the monoprint its singularity is the process of subsequent hand colouring or doctoring to make it uniquely different or a one of a kind print. A series of monoprints - all derived from the same plate, but then individually hand manipulated - is often called a unique edition and is signed and numbered accordingly."


Paul Klee's Trance Monotypes or "Transfer Drawings"

Here's a slight variation of the trace monotype technique you learned in class as used by Paul Klee.

How's your French?



Klee had made his own simple tracing paper so he would be able to multiply his drawings or transfer them to other papers.

He simply coated a sheet of paper with a thin layer of oil color. You can use greaseproof baking paper or transparent paper. He'd then place the oiled paper on top of a textured water color paper.

Klee would then draw directly on the tracing paper or on a thin paper which is placed as third layer on top. Thus the tracing paper could be used several times as the drawing with the stylus is visible only on the top layer (for example newsprint) and as trace on the lowest layer.

Klee would then often embellish these prints with watercolor and gauche.











For our next class you will need to purchase and bring:
• 1 sheet, 1/8" thick, 16x20” (or larger) acrylic sheeting (like Plexiglas)
• Drawing paper. A pad will work well. Thick or thin, maybe both.

For more info on trace monotypes:

Akua water-based inks

Belinda Del Pesco

John Hankiewicz, life drawings

Trace Monotypes from the Complete Printmaker

See you in class,
-Matt

Congratulations!

You found us.

I'm not going to get all informative on you just yet with a bunch of rules and propositions about what this site will do. You can tell me what you want.

Here are some of my monotypes from my undergraduate classes (back in '98 at Illinois State University):



Each one is about 28 inches tall and was completed in a day.



I used a piece of Plexiglas, a roller, some rags, Q-tips and an arm-load of magazines for reference.



Monotype: This Planographic technique challenges one of Printmaking's main features, which is the "multiple original" concept (each print of the limited series is an original work of art in itself). Monotyping results in a single, unique print because it's made by painting or drawing the image on an unrestrained surface and then transferring it onto a sheet of paper. However, the results are distinctly graphic and their unique quality cannot be compared to those obtained by directly drawing or painting on paper.

Invented in 1640 by Italian painter Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, the matrix's surface (traditionally polished copper plates, currently any smooth, non-absorbent material such as glass or acrylic) has no permanent marks to be transferred, so the entire image depends on the unique inking and results in a unique print. The image is often executed with no previous sketch, painting or drawing on the surface of the plate. Reductive methods are often used, rolling ink on the entire surface and then removing it with brushes or rags to create light. Printing is done by pressing a sheet of paper against the matrix, and while using a printing press will result in more defined, sharper images, it can also be done by hand which makes this a great introductory technique because it doesn't require an equipped studio.

Some monotypes by Aubrey Schwartz.


"Blue Teresa" / Monotype 24 x 21"


"Susan" / Monotype 21.5 x 13.25"


"Claude Monet" / Monotype 12 x 10"


"Vincent Van Gogh " / Monotype 23 x 19"


See you in class,

-Matt