d’Arte Board

Let me tell you something, making monotypes is a pain in the ass, and it’s a testament to the skill of my d’Arte Board co-author Tom Bennett that his finished pieces make it look so easy. He encouraged me to give it a try a long time ago and I was so frustrated that I was nearly in tears and all I had to show for it was a piece of plexiglass I had put ink down on and ended up wiping off about a half dozen times. After that I was little gun shy but with some consistent persuasion I gave it another shot. This time there was less crying but more swearing, and the first piece ended up in the bin, but it was OK because at least I finished it. Sometimes you just have to finish something, like it or not, and I am glad I did because I am much happier with the one I did after that.

It has some proportion issues but over all I am happy with it. I made another one that I am not unhappy with, which I haven’t photographed yet, but might post later, and I am hoping to make a couple more.

I guess it’s like anything, trying something once is rarely a good measure of if you are going to like it or not. There are of course some things that I took to instantly (cheese, photography, and anything to do with wigs), some things I can’t grow to like no matter how many times I try to learn (get that olive away from me!), and other things that maybe don’t need to be tried at all to know they aren’t for me (I will not be jumping out of a plane any time soon). But the vast majority falls into some middle ground (sushi), where I need to form and then re-form an opinion based on a shifting experience, and monotypes certainly fit that description.

Part of the shift was just forcing myself to get through one as I mentioned above, another part was finding the right image to work with that I was interested in and felt connected to, but I think the most important part was figuring out that I didn’t have to approach it the same way Tom does. That last one seems like a no brainer, but for me it really took some time to work out. Before seeing his work I had never seen a monotype before, and even now not many since so it never occurred to me that I could bring my own style, or even my own tools to the table. His approach is fluid and relaxed, and when I tried that I ended up really tense! I envy that ability but ultimately had to accept that it just wasn’t me, I’m fussy, I’m detailed, and I like a lot of control, especially when I feel like I don’t have it. Once I got that through my head I could enjoy the process without becoming hung up on the finished product and now I want to make a whole bunch of monotypes.

So before I get into a situation here when I end up with more of my various neurosis on further display, does anyone else have any similar experiences working their way into something? Did you always like what you do from the word go or did some of it take a little time to grow on you?

This entry was posted on February 11, 2009 at 10:21 am and is filed under Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, printmaking, Toni Tiller, work on paper with tags Art, corset, monotype, printmaking, Toni Tiller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.