Monotypes / Monoprints (continued):
For example I might create an image where part of it would be printed lithographically or by silkscreen, and this printed area
would become part of the hand drawn composition. Therefore in my monoprints some elements of the composition are unique
while others may share a common printed element. Generally, my monoprints are identified on the margins as "1, 2, 3 etc /
edition size."
Many of my compositions are created on Masonite or Plexiglas panels. I buy the Masonite panels pre-primed in art supply
stores or sometimes I will make my own. Recently, I have begun to use Plexiglas, in various colors, as a panel material. I
use acrylic to paint on these surfaces and I find that since they can be sanded to a degree that there is virtually no texture, I
can achieve the greatest detail in any of my paintings on these surfaces. When the image is completed I glue the panel on
to a larger piece of birch plywood that has been primed on all sides. It is the birch plywood that fits into the rabbet of the
frame so that the panel "floats" within the frame.
To date, all of my paintings on canvas have been done in acrylic but I am considering experimenting with alkyd oil paint or even
water soluable oil paint to achieve some complex blending effects that would be difficult to get with the fast-drying acrylic.
The technique I use to make a lithographic plate is actually very similar to creating a plate for a monotype. Instead of painting
on Mylar with watercolor or water-based ink, I paint the image in black acrylic and black prismacolor pencil. When this has dried
I have essentally created a photographic "positive". I then use this "positive" to make a contact print on a photo-sensitized,
positive developing, lithography plate. This plate, when processed and developed, is quite durable and ready to use in the edition.
If, after printing the first plate, corrections or additions are necessary, I merely have to make a new drawing and a new