Monotype — Monotypes are one-of-a-kind unique prints that cannot be duplicated. Unlike printmaking methods that produce a printing plate with permanent grooves and marks that will hold ink, the monotype plate is perfectly smooth and all you have to do is “paint” colors onto the surface, but using inks instead of paints. Transferring the image onto a piece of paper can be as simple as putting paper down over the plate and firmly rubbing the back. With a printing press, the possibilities expand. Lessons include many options for the student artist to explore, as monotype can be combined with other techniques to add color and special interest. Prints can employ stenciling, marks made with special tools, rubber stamps, photo transfers, collage (chine collé), different viscosities of ink, and other mixed media materials.
Watercolor Monotype— Using a familiar media in a new way, watercolor painters use the skills they already have to create multiple plates that they convert into a print by using a printing press and dampened paper. The beauty of this technique is the clarity of color that results. The transparency of the watercolor is exploited and there’s no worry that too many layers will muddy up the image. There is often enough watercolor left on the plate after the first printing to make another print, called a “ghost.” The ghost can stand alone or be developed into a new print. Every print is a one-of-a-kind work of art.
Intaglio — This is one of the most revered printmaking methods because most printing plates are capable of being re-inked so that the artist can make multiple copies of one image. The concept of these “multiple originals” allowed professional artists to expand their sales and was common custom as early as the Renaissance. There are many techniques that fall into this category and ideas can be integrated into a permanent plate in many ways. Since Watermark Press features water based inks and eschews metal plates and dangerous acids there are several techniques that are not used here. Therefore, alternative contemporary methods are substituted that imitate the style of traditional intaglio. One of the major benefits is a big savings in cost of materials whenever metal can be replaced with plastic. Here are some intaglio methods we teach at Watermark Press:
Drypoint and Engraving — Made with the same scratch tools used with metal etching, drypoint marks scribed into a plastic plate are a practical imitation of traditional etching. The resulting plate prints quite easily and will hold up to making many copies. In this process, thick printing ink is rubbed down into the scratched marks. The surface is wiped clean with care taken to leave ink in the marks, and then the plate is overlaid with a dampened sheet of printing paper. When run through the press under pressure, ink is drawn up out of the scratches and absorbed into the paper. There is sometimes an embossed effect on the back of the print that helps to indicate that the print is a true intaglio print. Engraving involves using thicker plastic and cutting deeper grooves into the material with a special tool, a graver. The engraved plate can be inked as either an intaglio or as a relief image. Skill and control in cutting is necessary for an attractive, successful print.
Silk Aquatint — This is a relatively new technique developed to imitate the soft gradations possible in etching using a piece of fine woven silk-like material. It is “glued” onto a backing board with polymer medium or acrylic paint. The image is built up with thin layers of polymer medium leaving open areas of fabric to hold the ink, or designs can be applied with gesso and other mediums that will also capture the ink. It is inked and wiped just like an etching, and the paper is dampened so that the action of the press can push it into the nooks and crannies to draw out the ink. Images from fully abstract to nearly photographic can be achieved. The plate can be re-inked for many copies and even washed up and stored for future reprinting.
Collagraph & Carborundum — These techniques offer an interesting opportunity to mix mediums together. Making a collagraph plate is similar to making a collage, by cutting, tearing and gluing layers of papers, fabrics, strings, and other thin objects to a base material which can be as simple as a piece of cardboard. Inked and wiped and printed onto dampened paper creates a deeply embossed image that repeats all the textures that were applied. Carborundum is the grit used to make sandpaper and polishing pastes. The raw grit can be mixed with glue and painted onto a backing material, or the glue can be spread and the grit sprinkled on, and by either method the grit will catch and hold a lot of ink, printing very deep color and some textural embossing. Collagraph and carborundum are often combined, and carborundum can easily be added to silk aquatint as well.
Relief — The Chinese perfected the woodcut many centuries ago. It is probably the earliest form of printmaking, since the Chinese also invented paper. The Japanese embraced both discoveries quite rapidly and the whole of Asia began printing on everything: paper, fabric, and even walls, for decoration and edification. Asian woodworkers and furniture makers had the tools and skill to carve even very complicated images, and pictures were often made with many different colors with corresponding blocks for each color. Their style of woodcut printing is now practiced all over the world. After linoleum was manufactured, it was found to be an economical substitute, and is often glued onto a piece of plywood for support. Prints can be made very simply by putting the paper over the inked block and rubbing the back like the Asian printers do. Or an etching press can be used to print unmounted linoleum taking care to register correctly multiple color plates. Some letterpresses—such as our Vandercook here at Watermark Press—can be used to print wood-mounted blocks, with accurate registration an added bonus. Both wood and linoleum plates can print many, many copies.
Bookmaking / Book Arts — We have the history of the written word to thank for the traditions that govern the making of a book. Since books are often illustrated with prints, the two arts are forever intertwined. Being both an art and a craft, bookmaking can go into many different directions. The art is in the design and interpretation that affects the look of a book, and the craft is in the careful construction and skill in crafting the details that make a book a beautiful as well as useful object. At Watermark Press we consider the history of the book and then define what we believe a book can be in contemporary art. First we practice the skills needed to construct different types of books, then we can break the rules and create something unique that stretches the definition of a book.