Art is very wide wherein you will be amazed as to how the artists make some arts and how they can be so creative. Printmaking Monotype is a simple kind of printmaking which is done through drawings and paintings with the use of surfaces that are smooth.
It can be copied from one surface to another surface by providing pressure on the two sheets or by pressing the sheets. Artist need to enhance the design in order for them to produce prints with enough particles for the other sheet. Monotypes is classified as in the media of printmaking for the reason that they are prints using paper.
There are different strategies that every artist uses in printmaking monotype. However, who could be the man behind this amazing art? This article would be a great help of knowing more about the invention of the printmaking Monotype.
Examples of Printmaking Monotype
Dusk and Storm (Source: https://touchpaperprintmakingtips.wordpress.com)
Practitioners of Printmaking Monotype
It is not yet fully confirmed for whom the inventor of the printmaking monotype was. There are many artists involve in the production of printmaking Monotype. Let us learn more about some artists who contributed something to the art of printmaking Monotype.
- Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione
Picture A
Picture B
Pic. A: Man wearing a headdress, and fur cap with a long beard, Facing Right. Pic. B Man Wearing a Small Turban Ornamented with Plumes and Ribbon, Facing Right (Source: https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artists/giovanni-benedetto-castiglione)
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione was a painter, printmaker, at the same time draftsman. He was an Italian artist. He has lots of known prints such as the exotic heads, and the oriental males and women. He was very interested in philosophy and life. It is said that he invented the process of Monotype.
People always give credit to Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione as the very first artist who makes monotypes. Giovanni began creating monotypes in the middle of 1640 with the use of copper plates for etching. He was able to create about twenty-plus sketches. For his final art, he created drawings with the use of the brush.
His style is the combination of drawing at the same time printmaking. The monotype has two modes in which Castiglione tried. First is the positive mode, in this mode, the picture is created with the direct use of the ink while the negative mode is wherein the ink is being spread on a smooth plate.
The most amazing monotype of Castiligione was using the two methods, but it was not a perfect result. When he pulled it first, the outcome was not the one you expected. However, he took the second pull, and he enhanced the image.
Later on, during the 19th century, William Blake, who is a poet and an artist and Edgar Degas, who is a French artist, did an experiment of the technique.
· Antoon Sallaert
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Image B
Image A: The evangelist Matthew writing the Gospel. Image B: Mythological scene with Neptune and River Gods monotype (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoon_Sallaert)
Antoon Sallaert was a painter, draughtsman, and he was also a printmaker. He is a Flemish artist. It was in the early 1640s which he created his very first monotypes. He also produced the technique of monotype. Hence, he was being considered as the printing process inventor. Sallaert and Castiglione used a variety of ways and techniques that are new.
Some of its works are illustrations for books. Sallaert produced eleven monotypes. His woodcuts and etchings are rare in which you cannot find it anywhere. His works look modern, and he provided the objects of his paintings with lines and dark highlights of colors
The two artists have different styles in printmaking monotype. Some of Castiglione’s monotypes are black pictures, and it is created with the use of ink. On the contrary, Sallaeart was being influenced by the engraver Hendrik Goltzius with his chiaroscuro woodcuts.
His strategy in his drawings and monotypes are somewhat similar to sketching using oil and drawing. There are highlights in his monotypes, and the highlights are white.
Conclusion
Printmaking Monotype is an art of the combination between drawing and printing wherein an artist will need a press to transfer the painting to the other sheet. Both artists contributed something in the area of printmaking monotype. Their usage of different strategies and ways of monotype makes their works as special as it seems. Even though they use a variety of ways, they were both able to use new techniques. The experiments they had to do in order to create results that can please the eyes of the people are all worth it.
Due to the fact that Giovanni Benedetto Castiligione was the first to practice the monotype, he was considered and was given credit to the people as the first artist to create monotypes. Though, it is not certain as to who the inventor was.
