Busacca Gallery

Couple #135 By Artist Richard Downs: Monotype on hand made archival Japanese Paper. Each is unique and one of a kind. This is not an edition print, it is a Monotype.-- Sacramento Bee Art Critic Victoria Dalkey said this about Richard's monotypes in a review. "His elegant yet emotive monotypes focus on abstracted male and female figures engaged in archetypal relationships. These rich and sophisticated graphics quietly steal the show." Richard has worked for most United States periodicals and newspapers ranging from The Progressive to National Geographic and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations publication divisions . Downs is a graduate of Art Center College of Design and was a faculty member for 6 years.Richard lives in Northern California in the historic Victorian mining town Nevada City with his wife and artist Gwyn Stramler and their daughter. Awards American Illustration Communication Arts Illustration Annual HOW magazine,Print Regional Design Annual Society of Illustrators New York 51 & 52, Online Design,Hypno Magazine,Society of Publication Design,Step by Step Japan 2011 Illustrators 52 Traveling Exhibition. 2010 New York Society of Illustrators -52nd Illustration Annual- 5 Illustrations accepted 2009 New York Society of Illustrators -51 2007 Communication Arts -48th Illustration Annual 2007 American Illustration -26th Illustration Annual-Communications of the ACM 2006 gold medal -Council for Advancement and Support of Education(CASE)-editorial art - Middlebury College 2006 gold medal - 28th Annual Design Awards - American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) - Computerworld 2006 silver medal - 28th Annual Design Awards - American Society of Business Publication Editors - PC World 2006 award of excellence - 36th Annual Design Competition - The University & College Designers Association - Middlebury College

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotyping

Monotyping is a type of printmaking made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. The surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. The image is then transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together, usually using a printing-press. Monotypes can also be created by inking an entire surface and then, using brushes or rags, removing ink to create a subtractive image, e.g. creating lights from a field of opaque color. The inks used may be oil based or water based. With oil based inks, the paper may be dry, in which case the image has more contrast, or the paper may be damp, in which case the image has a 10 percent greater range of tones.



Monotyping produces a unique print, or monotype; most of the ink is removed during the initial pressing. Although subsequent reprintings are sometimes possible, they differ greatly from the first print and are generally considered inferior. A second print from the original plate is called a "ghost print" or "cognate". Stencils, watercolor, solvents, brushes, and other tools are often used to embellish a monotype print. Monotypes are often spontaneously executed and with no previous sketch.