I offered a 3 day monotype workshop in my studio in July. It was rainy off and on outside - a perfect time to stay in and make art, right? None of the students had done monotype before, although all had done art and/or had taken classes in the past. Everyone is always a little excited, a little apprehensive about whether they will like the process, or whether they will turn anything out that they like. But as soon as everyone starts working, they do great. Shown in the photos are Kathy, Fran and Tracey.
The first day of the workshop, I like to start out by showing a range of prints from my collection to show the various approaches to style and imagery from a wide range of artists. Then I do a demonstration of techniques - painting directly on the plate with brushes, rolling up a flat of color and drawing back into it by removing color with rag, q-tip or fingers, stencil, etc. I have a whole list of techniques that I cover in a printed hand-out as well. My demos are largely just dabbling on the plate because I like to show how easy it is.
People always ask, if you are just painting on the plate, why not just paint the same thing on paper or canvas? My answer is that the magic of monotype is that you can't always predict what your end result will be. The surprises can be amazing. Something happens in the process, in the combination of ink, rollers, paper and voila! a print is born. Pulling the printing paper off the inked plate after running it thru the press is a "drum roll" sort of event. It is addicting!
The next workshop is scheduled for November 10 - 14. Visit my website for more information.
