The Backyard Monotype by M. Pia De Girolamo ©2012
If you’ve seen my posts on my Facebook artist page you’ll know I’ve recently been working on monotypes. A few years ago I learned printmaking techniques from instructor Christine Stoughton at the Main Line Art Center, Haverford, PA. Being a painter, I gravitated toward the monotype or monoprint as it is also sometimes called, because it combined what is essentially painting with printmaking technique and aesthetic.
Several years ago before I learned the technique, I bought a large monotype and in talking to the gallery owner about how it was made I had trouble visualizing the process. It was a print but it was marked “1/1″ meaning there was only one and it was not part of an edition (a limited run of multiple prints made using a wood- or linocut block or etching plate.) But if that was the case, how was it a print and not a painting? The image had not been incised but rather painted on a plexiglass plate, applied to paper and run through a hand-cranked roller press.
If I once had trouble picturing the process, you might too so I thought I’d walk you through and show some photographs of the basic steps. Because I am working in my home studio and do not own a manual printing press I am using a burnishing tool (the back of a flat wooden spoon). If you have an Art Center nearby you can often pay a small fee for open studio time using their full-size press.
Mixing the inks
Using Akua (non-toxic, soy-based) inks from Rostow and Jung, I use a palette knife, paintbrush and/or roller to apply the ink to a plexiglass plate (buy at art supply store or ask Home Depot to cut to size). I have found that mixing a little release agent into the paint helps the inks transfer more easily when home printing. I also use blending agent when brushing on paint to blend strokes.
Applying the ink
Inked plate with scraped off negative spaces
I may scrape off ink in areas to allow the white of the paper to show through and be part of the composition. Using other scraping “tools” like sponges, brushes, pieces of netting, etc. will create textured effects.
A key point to remember is that what you paint on the plate will be reversed when you print! Even when working in a very abstract and spontaneous way there may be a consistent pattern in which you apply your paint that is satisfying to you. If you don’t take this into account, you will be surprised, pleasantly or unpleasantly as the case may be, by the resulting composition of your piece. The print-making process can thus reveal an aspect of your practice previously unknown to you.
Plate inkside down on paper
Flipped inked plate and paper
After painting and scraping, I very carefully place the plate ink side down on special printing paper (I got a good deal from Utrecht; BFK Rives and Arches make excellent papers), press down, then carefully flip over the plate and paper together.
With strong downward pressure, I begin to burnish the back of the paper with the flat of the spoon and sometimes use a pin press (like a very heavy rolling pin) to get maximal transference of ink to paper. I lift up the corners to peek and rub some more until satisfied with the result. I can repeat the process by re-inking the same other plates and layering on color if I choose, or stop there. If there is enough ink on the plate I might be able to eke out one more print called a “ghost”, due to its delicate, ephemeral look.
Plate with re-inked areas at the bottom
Unforeseen results occur as the ink gets “squished” onto the paper. It takes time and practice to be able to control the transfer of ink. The print can turn out too light if there’s not enough ink, or “blobby” in areas of too much ink. Here I have added more ink to the plate and then I re-printed. I did this several times with this print. The finished monotype is at the start of the blog post. It helps to start with easy compositions and smaller papers before attempting more complex subjects and larger sizes.
A great printmaking resource: Rostow and Jungs website http://www.waterbasedinks.com/
