Linda Post: Monotypes

Linda Post has been making monotypes since 1978. Her monotypes are essentially printed paintings, each one a one-of-a-kind piece. She uses a very time-consuming method of working in layers on zinc plates with oil pastels, oil paints, lithographic crayons and hand-cut stencils, often using the ghost image left on a plate or a paint-laden stencil to launch a series. The painted plate is then heated and printed on Arches Cover or Rives BFK on an etching press. She has led numerous workshops and lectured at colleges and art centers on this remarkable medium. Post’s monotypes are in the collections of the Boston Public Library, Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, Reader’s Digest and the City of Northampton, among others.

Monotypes: The Painterly Print

The most painterly method among printmaking techniques, monotypes are essentially printed paintings. A monotype is one of a kind, a unique piece of artwork. It is a deceptively simple form of printmaking, requiring only pigments, a surface on which to apply them, paper and some form of press.

Monotypes are pulled impressions that were drawn or painted on a metal or plexiglass plate. The images are created through applications of ink that are rolled, brushed, daubed or otherwise applied and manipulated and then transferred to paper – “pulled” – with the use of a press.

Monotypes are inherently unique because only one or two impressions may be pulled before the ink is used up. Although there may be a second impression, it is quite different from the first in that most of the ink was lifted from the plate in its first pass through the press. The second impression, called a “ghost”, is much lighter or thinner and is more of a suggestion of the first.

The appeal of the monotype lies in the unique translucency that creates a quality of light very different from a painting on paper or a print. The beauty of this media is also in its spontaneity and its combination of printmaking, painting and drawing mediums. Many effects can be achieved in monotypes that are not possible with any other technique.

Linda Post has been making monotypes since 1978. She works in layers on zinc plates with oil pastels, oil paints, lithographic crayons and hand-cut stencils, often using the ghost image left on a plate or a paint-laden stencil to launch a series. The painted plate is then heated and printed on Arches Cover or Rives BFK paper on an etching press. She has led numerous workshops and lectured at colleges and art centers on this remarkable medium.