In a post at the beginning of the month I mentioned my new acquaintance with the technique of mono printing. Recently I have managed to find the time in which to experiment with this method, and I must say that I am finding it interesting.
The technique is more difficult than I anticipated, because every touch out of place leaves its (uncorrectable) trace. Small differences in the thickness of instruments (such as pencils) to trace a line produce surprisingly large differences in the result. The method of each image needs to be thought through very carefully, and this is particularly the case with calligraphic elements. It is more difficult than I thought it would be to produce controlled differences of tone.
As with so many aspects of art, however, I have found the accidental discoveries during this journey to be almost more interesting than the things I set out deliberately to learn. To my surprise, I have discovered that the production of an image leaves a trace on the plate that persists even after the plate is inked again. This means that the first image appears as a kind of pictorial ghost within any subsequent image. This afternoon I began to try and make a virtue out of this purely accidental “mistake”, and I have begun to create a kind of pictorial “palimpsest”, in which elements with differing degrees of definition are superimposed on each other. I can see that this really has potential.
I’m afraid that my expectations for results are outrunning my capacity to realise them at a disturbing rate. Consequently I can see that in one way or another this new “plaything” is going to keep me amused for some time to come. You never know: it might actually result eventually in something worthwhile.