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MONOPRINT and MONOTYPE
As the names make clear, there can be only one work produced by these methods, but there is a distinct difference.
The monoprint is made on a plate with markings which are capable of being reproduced several times - a drypoint for example - but the artist chooses to make a single print, or perhaps a series in different colours where each is unique.
The monotype, by contrast is printed from an unmarked plate - most usually Perspex - where the image is destroyed by the printing process and so cannot be reproduced. Often described as "the painterly print", the different shapes and colours of the image can all be applied to the blank plate at the same time - like a painting - and passed through the press once. Another way to achieve complexity of colour and shape is by selective overprinting of different colours onto an image which is passed through the press several times.
Monotypes can be made with watercolour, water-soluble crayon and other materials as well as traditional printmaking inks. They may incorporate other printed methods and material and the results are always unique.