What the thing is
Monoprinting is a printmaking method that yields unique impressions—one per run—from reusable blocks like metal plates, litho stones, or wood blocks. The intent is to make unique prints, which may explore an image serially. Where other printmaking methods create editioned multiples, a monoprint is editioned as 1 of 1.
Where it came from
Its techniques appear in historical practice—Rembrandt and Degas made works now understood as monoprints—but the term and formal distinction emerged later, unnamed in their time.
What it gets right
Monoprinting delivers irreproducible impressions from reusable blocks. It merges painting, drawing, and printmaking in one act. It embraces variation as structural, not incidental. Only one impression may be produced, either by painting or by making a collage on the block. The artist may also rework the image between impressions or after printing, so that no two prints are absolutely identical. Another route is tracing: thick ink is laid down on a table, paper is placed on top, and drawing on the paper transfers the ink onto it.
What it gets wrong
It is routinely mislabelled as monotyping. The distinction matters: monoprints rely on persistent, reprintable features; monotypes do not.
Why it matters now
In an age of digital replication and algorithmic uniformity, monoprinting reasserts the value of the unrepeatable mark made through physical, contingent process.
Is it worth your time
Yes—if you want a printmaking method that privileges singularity over repetition, and treats the plate as a mutable surface rather than a fixed matrix.
