Kathleen Abood

Geisha Roll Up With Chine Colle'

Techniques for making a relief print vary greatly. The process usually involves carving away or building up texture on a flat surface that can be printed. In the multi-plate process, the colors are separated in the design to print from different relief surfaces onto the same paper. The artist can also continue to carve away on the printed plate or block and print different colors sequentially from the same block to make a ‘reduction’ woodcut print.

When the plate or woodcut block image is complete, a thin layer of ink is applied with a smooth rubber roller to the entire relief surface and then paper is placed on the ink and carefully rubbed from the reverse side or run through a hand operated etching press. This pressure transfers the ink onto the paper for a relief style print. Design registration from the plate to the paper is very important in multicolor print runs. Secondary colors can be formed when one color overlaps another. Limited editions can be made by duplicating every detail of each print.

The ‘one of one’ concept behind ‘mono’ printing refers to the more painterly approach to the monotype technique. The monotype image is developed using ink or paint on a smooth surface with no repeatable fixed image. This makes each print unique. I prefer to roll up layers of color on the plate and then wipe out areas with a rag and work back into the image. I often use plants as stencils or for textural patterns and print directly from found or created objects. For monoprint a fixed relief image on a surface may be used in combination with monotype or other techniques to alter the fixed image in a new way. Different papers can also be pasted under the ink layer to form a chine colle’ type collage when run together through a press. With monotype and monoprinting the actual process can frequently deliver unique surprises to the artist.