Monotype, positive/negative

Yesterday I talked about trace monotypes:

“Trace monotypes are made by laying paper down on an inked piece of plexiglass, then drawing a design on the back of the paper.  The drawing tool presses the paper against the ink, making a dark line on the front of the paper.”

– Ruthie V, circa yesterday

Today I found an artist who used both the trace, and the print from the press to make a positive/negative figure study.

Madeline Roseske, monoprint (positive & negative)

 

A positive from the figure drawing teacher: The contour lines are a beautiful balance with the textured tones. Take another look at that shading. To make it, the artist ran their finger (or another soft tool?) across the surface of paper, not seeing the result until the page was lifted. Soft pressure makes these marks, but the artist couldn’t see what they were doing until it was done. Drawing blind! Just one move made the spine, and it worked. Elegant.

A negative from the figure drawing teacher: Just because you can draw the whole detailed foot, doesn’t mean you should. I realize the bravery involved in drawing hands and feet, typically people skip them out of fear, but in this case the wiggly little beans distract from the graceful simplified form, and this print would have been quite lovely without it.

Those ghosted square shaped marks – Nikki Barber, do you think these are brayer marks from uneven inking? Or something else?