|
|
How are monoprints and etchings different?
Simon's original monoprints are created on a blank copper plate, where the printing process destroys the image, never to be reproduced, making it an original, whereas the permanent intaglio image on an etching plate can be reproduced over and over. The etching programs, which are released three times a year, originally grew out of a dalliance with the technique of monoprinting.
In 1995 Simon Bull began experimenting with monoprints, in an effort to find a new style that excited him. He could not have known that the resulting works would change the course of his career. When he took the first of these boldly coloured and striking images to a trade show he did not expect them to sell. However, he found that his traditional paintings were overlooked in favour of his new style. Every monoprint was sold. People were clamouring for more; soon Simon was working from dawn to midnight on these spontaneous new images. It became clear that he would have to develop a way to reproduce them easily. This meant translating his new work into a medium that had long been a favourite: etching.
The nature of his monoprint technique meant that the work moved naturally into the etching format. The mono's were created using a blank, polished sheet of copper with a thin layer of blue ink applied, the ink was then drawn through with a rag, resulting in a blue and white image when printed. This image forms the base for transparent washes of inks and embellishments of gold foil and pastels. Simon Bull's etchings are produced using the same basic materials, to produce a unique, hand finished surface with unrivalled color intensity. |
