Monotype – a kinf of Art

Monotype is a printmaking technique that differs from all other graphic techniques in one essential way: it yields only a single print. Its name comes from two Greek words: monos – one, and typos – impression.

But if there is only one print, why do we even speak of printmaking? After all, printmaking is defined by the ability to pull the same image again and again from the same matrix (or matrices), producing as many identical copies as the artist decides to include in an edition.

What Monotype and Printmaking Share

And yet monotype has a great deal in common with printmaking. Above all, the act of printing. When making a monotype, you usually don't create a matrix with an intricately carved surface. There is little point in laboring over a complex plate for a single impression. A monotype is made from simple matrices, which can be cut even from thick paper or cardboard. Here it is the artist's inventiveness that matters. There are no limits on the choice of materials. The most important moment is the printing itself, which monotype and printmaking hold in common. After applying the ink, I lay the paper onto the matrix, run it under the pressure of the printing press roller… and then comes the most fascinating moment of the whole process: I peel the first print away from the matrix, and we look – at what has printed.

Monotype – The Technique of Chance

Examining the first print is always the most exciting part. That is when I see how my artistic intention has come to life in the impression. Most often this first trace is not yet a finished image. Almost always I feel a sense of surprise that it did not turn out as I had planned. The matrix and the ink have acted on their own terms and shown me that in monotype, chance is in charge. The unpredictability of this technique is exactly what makes it exciting and a source of fresh inspiration. The print is only part of the image. I keep working on it – I can draw something in, paint over it, add a collage element. After all, this is monotype: one unrepeatable image comes into being.

Printing Ink – One of a Kind

An impression made with printing ink has special qualities that no other technique can give. This is the part of the monotype image that keeps me devoted to the medium. I search for surfaces with different textures that can be coated with ink and printed. Nature supplies the matter: dry leaves, pieces of bark, fabric, coils of string – anything at all. The result is unrepeatable traces of living or inanimate matter. Their details are captured by printing ink with astonishing precision – ink, after all, is made to reproduce the smallest detail exactly.

The Texture of the Paper

The texture of the paper on which a monotype is made matters greatly. It takes part in the process almost as much as the matrix. With the right amount of pressure from the press roller, you can achieve intriguing effects from the imperfect printing of flat shapes. The paper turns out to be an active partner in the process. I press it against a variety of surfaces, and Fabriano printmaking paper takes on their relief and holds onto their texture.

Monotype is a journey into the unknown. You have to be ready for surprises and put them to use in the creative process. Monotype gives the feeling that something new is coming into being.

Jolanta