Have You Tried Monotypes with Pastel?

'Summer Wishes'        5x7     Monotype with pastel        ©Karen Margulis   $45

'Summer Wishes II'            monotype with pastel     (ghost print)

Day two of Summer Art Camp.  We did monotypes and we will add pastel tomorrow.  After the kids left I couldn't help myself and did a few prints. Can you tell I am having fun with camp!  I was introduced to monotypes last year by my son who was doing them at school. (SAIC)  Monotypes or monoprints are one of a kind prints made by painting on a non porous surface. You can transfer the print by hand and you can use a variety of inks or paint which makes it an easy way to try printmaking. They are called monotypes because you usually only can pull one print. You can make changes and do another similar print.  The plate can then be cleaned and used again. 
Sometimes there is enough ink on the plate to allow a second print which is known as a ghost print because it will be fainter than the first print. Degas worked with monoprints and many of his pastels were done on top of his ghost prints.  I have a wonderful book called 'Degas A Critical Study of the Monotypes' by Eugenia Parry Janis.  In the book there are reproductions of the monotypes with descriptions of how Degas acheived the effects.

This is the first pull of my dandelion print, before I added pastel. This monotype was done using the subtractive method. I covered my plexiglass plate with black block printing ink and drew into the ink with Q-tips and bamboo skewers.

For this print I used the subtractive method. I applied black ink to a plexiglass plate and removed the ink with a variety of tools. I used cloth, Q-tips and bamboo skewers. I don't have a press so I did a hand transfer by placing my paper on top of the plate and rubbing with a tool called a Baren. You can also use the back of a wooden spoon.  I had enough ink to get two prints and when they were dry I added pastel to both.

This is my inked plate with my drawing before I printed

This poster shows the many ways one can do monotypes

There are so many ways to do a monotype....more than I can share in this blog post. If you are intrigued by the possibilities of monotypes then I recommend a website devoted to monoprints HERE  You probably have all the tools you need to try this fun medium right now. I started with a piece of glass from an old frame, a tube of black oil paint, some Canson paper and a wooden spoon!