Reduction Monotype

Yesterday was the second day of our workshop.  We worked on a three color reduction monotype.  Using a light box, we put our drawings or photos under a piece of plexiglass for reference.

First, you start by covering the plate with a layer of yellow ink (we used a litho process yellow mix with plate oil).  Then you start removing the ink with items like q-tips, scrim, brushes, chopsticks, etc.  Here is Rose demonstrating with her drawing.

Since we only used yellow, process red (magenta) and process blue, you really have to think about the areas where the colors will be mixed.  Not only do you remove all the white areas from the yellow but also any area you want pure blue, pure red, or purple.

When it's completed it looks something like this.

Then you put it on a piece of paper and run it through the press.   Since this is a monotype you will only get one print.  But a ghost image can be run through the press with a second piece of paper.

The plate gets cleaned off and you start the process again with red.  Below is my plate in the process of removing the areas where I don't want red (magenta).  I didn't want a lot of red so I ended up cleaning most of it off.  Where you leave all three colors you will get a black.

The red is printed on top of the same paper with the yellow.  So you have to be careful to register the plate very well for the second and third run through the press.  Here is my red printed over the yellow.

The last step is the blue and you really don't know what the print is going to look like until this very last step of running the blue through the press.

Here is my final print.  I'm not that happy with it as it turned how quite a bit different than what I had envisioned.  But now that I have been through the process I have a better idea of how the layers work together and the different ways to remove the ink.  

Here is the ghost print.  I could use this as a base to go back in and use colored pencils or pastels.

It is also good to see what others used and how they did theirs.  We all had fun watching each other pull their prints and watch how the different steps built up.  It was always a surprise at the end.

Here is Cassandra's finished print, which I love and is totally in her style.

Here is Tyler's finished print.

And here is the instructor's finished print.

I'm glad we get to do another one today and on Monday.  I think I need some more practice.