MONOTYPE TECHNIQUES

Monotype

Monotypes are one-of-a-kind prints. To make the black and white monotypes, I begin by rolling up a smooth plastic plate with a solid layer of black etching ink. I work directly into the ink on the surface of the plate, manipulating and removing it with tools and rags to create light and tone in the dark ground. The image is created subtractively, working from dark to light. The ink is then transferred from the plate onto dampened paper under pressure using an etching press. The plate must be inked again and reworked for each print. No permanent marks are inscribed into the plate and so the image cannot be exactly repeated. I never use solvents in any part of my working process. Clean up is done with vegetable oil.

Monoprint

Monoprints are made from a plate with a fixed matrix, such as a drypoint on copper. The plate contains permanent marks which will repeat from print to print. But instead of printing an edition of identical prints, the plate is used to make monoprints by treating each print as an individual, by varying the ink color or by combining different plates together to create a series of unique images.

INTAGLIO TECHNIQUES

Drypoint

Drypoints are made by scribing directly into a copper plate with sharp tools, such as etching needles, roulettes or sandpaper. As the tools push into the soft metal, they raise a burr which will trap ink and print as a fuzzy line or tone when the plate is inked and printed onto dampened paper with an etching press.

Mezzotint

Mezzotint is a drypoint process in which a sharp tool, called a rocker, is used to raise a burr over the entire surface of a copper plate to create a solid ground. The image is made subtractively by scraping and burnishing the ground to remove and smooth the burr to varying degrees to achieve a range of tones and light areas. The plate is inked and printed with an etching press.

Spitbite Aquatint

Spitbites are made by first applying an aquatint to a copper plate. I use acrylic grounds and ferric chloride as an etchant, which is much safer and greener than the traditional methods and materials. The acrylic hardground is sprayed on with an airbrush to coat the plate with a fine mist of dots, creating a resist. When the ground is dry, I paint on ferric chloride with a brush to gently etch into the exposed areas of the copper around the dots of aquatint ground. The tonal range is determined by the length of time the etch is left on. The ground is removed and the plate is inked and printed like an etching. This technique is used to create subtle tones and painterly marks. I sometimes combine drypoint and spitbite plates to make finished prints.