Barbara Mason, World Printmakers Artist

About the Process

Viscosity Monotypes: I start with a drawing, usually on some cheap paper, newsprint or butcher paper. I draw in pencil and then refine with a sharpie pen so that the lines are black. I put this "cartoon" under the plexi-glas so I have some idea of the image I want to paint. This is very important if doing anything architectural. I seem to make all my buildings lean to the left with out this guide. The drawing also helps me keep my work inside the size of the paper I plan to use. I paint the image with lithography ink that has 1/4 transparent base and 1/4 setswell mixed with it. This is pretty stiff "paint" so it is hard to do fine work or work any smaller than 12"x16". The larger the work, the easier it is to control the work. A fair amount of ink is used, no washy places or it will not transfer.

After my "painting" is done, I roll out my background color, usually a blended roll of several colors, on my glass table using a large 81/2"x24" roller. There is nothing in this ink, it is straight out of the can or mixed with a bit of transparent base. I then roll the roller with the blended colors on it over the painting on the first plexi-glas plate using firm pressure. Because there are different amounts of oil in the two inks, the image is now transferred to the roller. I roll the roller out on a clean piece of plexi-glas using no pressure, only the weight of the roller, rolling back and forth 4 or 5 times. The image is transferred to the clean plexi-glas plate. This gentle rolling back and forth creates the slight shadow that makes the work look a little three dimensional.

I print it with an etching press on damp Rives BFK paper. I usually print the first plate on newsprint to clean it off, but sometimes I print it on good paper. It is an image with no shadows, not bad, just different with stronger colors and harder edges. It took me a year to get control of this process with any kind of consistency, so if you try it and it doesn't work, email me for help. There is always the possibility of adding a second layer of ink, printing the same paper again. I usually do not but one could. I use Graphic Chemical Oil based ink made by Handschy. It is highly pigmented. If you use a different brand you might have to experiment with the amount of transparent base or your image could turn out pretty washed out color wise.