I'm taking a multi-week printmaking class at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). I'm beyond geeked out and excited about it. I've done a ton of printmaking but never with a real live printing press!!! We are going to be focusing on three kinds of printmaking: monoprint/monotype, drypoint, and relief printing. The first class was all about monoprints and monotypes.
I found a great explanation on the difference between monotypes and monoprints on monoprints.com.
A monotype is essentially ONE of a kind: mono is a Latin word which means ONE and type means kind. Therefore, a monotype is one printed image which does not have any form of matrix. On the other hand, a monoprint has some form of basic matrix.
The process of creating a monoprint or a monotype is the same, but when doing monotypes, the artist works on a clean and unetched plate; with monoprints, however, there is always a pattern or part of an image which is constantly repeated in each print. Artists often use etched plates or some kind of pattern such as lace, leaves, fabric or even rubber gaskets, to add texture. In this case, having a repeated pattern, we have a monoprint.
Here's my working space (and some classmates):
You can see some printing plates on the far left, ink palette in the middle, and tools all around!
Here is the printing press:
Here are some plates before printing:
And the prints from those plates:
You can get a "ghost" or second print from your plates. I decided to get a little fancy with my ghosts and add color and other elements between printing:
First print:
Adding color and other elements:
"Ghost" print:
Set of two first prints with the "ghosts" below:
I had a ton of fun and my brain is humming with ideas. I look forward to sharing more adventures in printmaking as class continues!
Thanks for stopping by!
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Very cool! Cannot wait to see how this experience and your new ideas get expressed in your art work.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
Looking forward to more posts on printing! It’s been too many years to count since I worked with this type of printing. Loved it at the time. You’re inspiring me to look for some local printmaking classes.
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
What fun. I love to print. I worked in the NIU print department for many years while getting my degree. It is a great print shop. Looks like you have the idea and have wonderful results. It will be good to hear of your latest adventure!!!!
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
what wonderful work you created while having fun. Thanks for sharing.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
We are so lucky to have a book arts center here in town. One half of the room is for papermaking, the other half is for printing and book making. I take all sorts of wonderful classes there. The monoprinting class was fun, but I had some difficulty with the printing ink, getting it to the right consistency, and clean up after. Very messy.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.
Your talent is limitless! Because of you I yearn to be a varied and better artist. I learn so much from you blog. Thanks.