Monotype Prints or Monoprints?

The kind of printmaking that I mostly create are monotype prints. These are unique prints; mono means one, so each print is one of a kind. The prints are not produced in editions (a suite of signed and numbered prints that are identical).

I should back up and get even more technical. The term monoprint and monotype print are confused all of the time, even by me. A monoprint is a print made in a series, with unique alterations or embellishments added to it. For instance, an etching printed on the same paper, with the same ink ten times, would be an edition of ten prints. However, if those prints were painted over with watercolor, they would become monoprints, because each would be different. No matter how hard the artist tried to paint identically, the prints would have slight variations, but the matrix underneath (the etching) would be the same.

A monotype print is begun on a blank surface; (I use acrylic sheets). Ink, or even paint, is applied directly to the surface, which is covered with damp paper, and run through a press in order to transfer the image to the paper. Of course, a print can be printed without a press, and in the case of gelatin prints, that would be a very bad idea.

I have a whole library of stencils, templates and fabrics that I use when I create a print. I like to explore the variations I can create by changing the inks and the order of my images. So there are similarities in theme between my prints, but each print is unique.

I also should mention, that I run my prints through the press multiple times, adding more shapes and inks each time. Oftentimes, I will ruin a promising print, but for me that is part of the process of making that one good “keeper”.

“Later that Hazy Summer Day”, a monotype variation on a theme.

When signing a monotype print, since it is unique, it is either signed A/P which stands for “Artist Proof” or it is numbered 1/1 which stands for one print in an edition of one. I prefer A/P because 1/1 looks like a bunch of lines to me. A signed print would also have the title in quotation marks, the artist signature and the date. A print is less valuable without these annotations.

On another post I’ll describe different methods of creating monotype prints.