Monotyping

Monotyping is classified as being a subdivision of the printmaking fine art, but it is also related to the painting and drawing disciplines. The concept is that a design is painted or drawn on a smooth surface that will not retain the paint or other materials. To make the image, the surface is pressed, complete with paint, to a piece of paper, therefore creating a print. Thus, the technical aspect of the technique is printing in nature, but the preparation for the printing is done by either painting or drawing an image or design. In the early years of monotyping, the most common surface that was used was a copper etching plate. However, current artists use a wide variety of mediums, including glass, zinc, and acrylic glass.

The process of monotyping is attributed to an Italian painter named Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. He also had the distinction of being credited as the first artist to use a normal sketch as a finished piece of fine art, rather than being a stage in the creation of a larger work. In the middle of the seventeenth century, Castiglione started to make black and white monotypes, with only slightly more than twenty being known to exist in present day. Several famous artists continued to use the monotyping technique for many years, including William Blake and Paul Gaugin.

Monotyping is a process that is distinct from monoprinting, but the two techniques are often confused. The different is that with monotyping, the surface that is used must be completely featureless. However, the surfaces that are used with monoprinting involve some permanent lines or designs on the surface. There is also a difference in the piece of artwork that is produced. A monotype will be a one of a kind print, as there is no way to duplicate the image in exactly the same manner due to the movement of ink or paint.