MONOTYPE

Monotype: A form of printmaking in which the artist draws or paints on some material, such as glass, and then prints the image onto paper. The remaining pigment can then be reworked, but the subsequent print will not be an exact version of the previous print.

It's a printing process where the artist doesn't have to worry about all of the "technical" aspects of printmaking and can instead concentrate on being creative. Energy, improvisation, gesture, impulse and chance are all characteristics of this printing process. It is the most "painterly" and immediately rewarding technique available for creating works on paper. -History of the Monotype, William Jung

The Creation of Adam Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione, 1642 Monotype in black on ivory laid paper

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MONOTYPES AND MONOPRINTS? A monoprint is one of a seriestherefore, not wholly unique. A monoprint begins with an etched plate, a serigraph, lithograph or collograph. This underlying image remains the same and is common to each print in a given series. Other means of adding pigment or design are then employed to make each print in the series slightly different. The series of monoprints has a limited number of prints and each is numbered.

A monotype is one of a kind, a unique piece of artwork. It is the simplest form of printmaking, requiring only pigments, a surface on which to apply them, paper and some form of press. (http://www.collectorsguide.com)

VOCABULARY
MONOTYPE: A form of printmaking in which the artist draws or paints on some material, such as glass, and then prints the image onto paper. The remaining pigment can then be reworked, but the subsequent print will not be an exact version of the previous print. BRAYER A small, hand-held rubber roller used to spread printing ink evenly on a surface before printing. MATRIX A physical surface that can be manipulated to hold ink, which is then transferred to paper. Most, though not all, matrices are able to print the same image many times. Some matrices used in printmaking include metal plates, blocks of wood, sheets of linoleum, sheets of Plexiglas, and slabs of limestone. IMPRESSION NUMBER The number of a print in an edition. The first three prints in an edition 10 would be 1/10, 2/10, 3/10 etc. EDITION A set of identical prints made from the same matrix (or set of matrices). Often a number of other prints artists proofs and printers proofs prints are made at the same time but are not considered to be part of the numbered edition. Each print in a limited edition is usually numbered in the lower left-hand margin. The form of this inscription is as follows: number in the edition/size of the edition (i.e. 15/50). To guarantee a limited edition, the artist or printer can strike the plate by incising an X on the printing face after completion. REGISTRATION The alignment of matrices as they are printed sequentially onto the same sheet of paper.