Monotype Series

Monotype is one of my favorite ways to create. These three prints took two days to complete during the last two weeks. The object is a small white cream pitcher. I drew it several times to tell the story of a pitcher falling from a shelf. What a challenge to draw an object from observation in different positions on the same page and still achieve a balanced composition! Although a monotype is technically only one print, I got three variations by manipulating the original image in three ways.

Falling Pitcher I, Monotype, 18" x 24"

Falling Pitcher II, Monotype, 18" x 24"

Falling Pitcher III, Monotype and mixed media with chine collee, 18" x 24"

Monotype is a fun printmaking technique. I used a plexiglas plate to roll up black etching ink, then removed it with a rag and a paintbrush to show the white areas. I printed with an etching press onto dampened white paper. The first print is the original, but on the plate there is a "ghost." It printed the second, a light grey print at the first pass through the press. On the plexiglas, I repainted the white areas yellow, and the black area blue, and printed on top of the light grey ghost print. The third print was another ghost print that was reprinted first with a blue background and then with paper glued to the vases, and printed once again with a transparent red. I wasn't completely satisfied with the final output, so I touched it up with Caran d'Ache crayon. Actually, this photo was taken about midway through the touchup, but it is still fairly accurate.