November Monotypes

Arbolado XV, 2017, monotype, image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches 

It's a brisk day here in New York, temperature has dropped to the twenties, cold enough to make you not want to step outside at all.  We are only at the beginning of winter and already I'm daydreaming about painting outdoor in the warm summer sun.  In the meantime I'm letting my daydreams materialize through monotype, and these images are the latest additions to my collection of prints.  

Ponderosa Pine, 2017, monotype, image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches 

Speaking of warmth,  the kind of paper I have mostly been using for my prints has been Rives Heavyweight Buff, a nice paper with a golden tone and not as rough as the Rives BFK.  But for the first run of this group I tried a thicker and warmer paper and I'm really liking it's effect.  I have printed with this paper once before, but I think I may have used straight black ink then, which did not work all that well.  This time I used the paper with my usual mixture of Soft Black and Warm Sepia ink and the final effect has more richness.  And what might this magical paper be?  It's called Arches Cover Buff.

Beyond the Tress, 2017, monotype, image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches 

Arbolado XV, 2017, monotype (ghost print), image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches 

For the ghost prints I went back to the Rives Heavyweight, sometimes the second run can yield an even nicer image than the first and it needs to be printed on nice paper, which I think it's what happened here.  Sometimes it's hard to tell how dark the ink will print on the first run, and reflections on the copper plate can always throw you off and make you believe that you are wiping away the right amount of ink.  But you never find out what you have until you run the plate through the press and hope that the image turns out just the way you want.  

Ponderosa Pine, 2017, monotype (ghost print), image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches

These ghost prints came out really nice, they reveal the details and subtleties I was after that got lost in the first run.  I like them both to be honest, you have to get used to this sort of thing and live with what comes out of the press.    

Beyond the Trees, 2017, monotype (ghost print), image 8 x 6 inches, sheet 11 x 8 1/2 inches