original prints

Monotypes

What is an original print?

Original prints are just that, originals – each one hand-made, unique and an inky-fingered world away from a reproduction. A reproduction, often referred to as a 'print', is a copy of a work made in, say watercolour, whereas a print is an artwork in its own right, conceived as an etching, monotype, collagraph, woodcut … each technique chosen to best portray the subject.

Printmakers are endlessly inventive, experimenting with all kinds of tools and materials, but the universal principle is that an image is transferred to paper from a plate, rather than by direct painting or drawing. Pressure from a printing press is usually necessary although hand burnishing is sometimes possible. Within the range of techniques there is a basic division between relief and intaglio printmaking. Relief prints, such as lino or woodcuts, rely on the surface of the plate to carry ink and the image; intaglio methods such as etching and collagraph draw the image from the incised lines and depressions in the plate where ink can rest below the cleaned surface. Making a plate is a complex craft with unpredictable results. A successful plate may be used more than once, to make a limited edition – each one inked and printed by hand, sometimes in different colours. By contrast, the image on a monotype plate is ephemeral, destroyed by the printing process, and there can only be one.