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  • Monotype and Etching Classes 2021  are on Events Page 
  • Recent Etching goes to England  www.printmakersofcapecod.org 
SIx colors of ink and two 9×6″ copper plates were used to make “Ocean Odyssey” in a limited edition for an exchange exhibition with the Printmakers of Cape Cod and the Tamar Valley Workshop in southern England. The exhibition was on view at the Cape Cod Museum of Art in 2020 and will be shown in England in September 2021.
Limited edition of multiple-plate etchings

Monotype Process Video

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A monotype is a painting transferred to paper once only; mono means

one. I make my monotypes by applying thin layers of etching ink

to a plexiglas plate using small rubber brayers. Once the

painting is complete, I place dampened rag paper on top of the

plate, and run it gently through a press. The transferred painting

is now a monotype, and is the reverse of the inked plate image,

which is why I have to paint the original image in reverse. The major

reason for doing monotypes, for me, is the luminosity of imagery imbedded

in the white paper, and the spontaneity and variety of mark-making in the

image.

A lot of people ask why go to the trouble of painting backward? As a printmaker for 45 years, I’m used to reversing everything…etchings, lithographs, collagraphs and monotypes, so it’s not a problem for me. I always draw value studies and sketches first, to establish the composition and important shapes. For the monotypes I place a drawing under a see-thru plexiglass plate or just draw on the back of the plate, to help me get started with the inking…where to place the tree, path, etc. It takes several days to complete a compelling composition, then mix all the colors of ink, and finally cover the entire plate with thin glistening layers of ink.

Zavorskas Print Studio, Orleans, MA