Printing by Tigist Balke

Monotype/Monoprint

An intriguing hybrid among printmaking techniques, monoprints are neither a print nor a painting, but a unique combination of both. It is one image (mono) painted with oil-based or water-based inks onto any surface that will transfer the image onto paper.
The two terms monotype and monoprint are often confused and need clarification. A monoprint is a print created through any technique (lithograph, etching, woodblock, etc.) that is altered after it has been printed. Each print is different from the other, as the artist works each etched or worked plate individually, adding color or wiping the ink differently each time a print is pulled. A monotype is the printing of an image from a clean, unworked surface containting no scratching, carving or drawing. The main difference is that with monotypes editions are impossible to pull.

Woodcut is the earliest and most enduring print technique. In a woodcut it is the raised surface containing the positive image that is printed. The background area is carved away, creating the white, nonprinting, areas.