Julia and Gail Ayres (continued)

Grounded in their mastery of printmaking, Julia and Gail Ayres explore the combination of techniques with a wide variety of materials. In their creative and inspiring instructional video, Gail and Julia demonstrate their masterful techniques and awesome results. In their video workshop you learn both the additive and reductive monotype techniques using non-toxic inks. They use everything from brushes to brayers and Q-tips to fingertips.

Julia and Gail Ayres are a daughter-mother team who teach monotype methods in popular printmaking workshops in their North East Oklahoma studio and nationwide. Julia wrote Monotype: Mediums and Methods of Painterly Printmaking which is highly acclaimed as the essential handbook for monotype print makers. Gail owns and operates GaleForce Graphics, an art supply business specializing in hand print-making materials, including the PinPress monotype roller and Akua Kolor water-based inks.

Julia and Gail came to Creative Catalyst Productions to film Painterly Printmaking with Monotype. This high quality instructional DVD makes the Ayres' workshops conveniently available to artists, teachers and students world-wide.

The DVD demonstrations include both additive and reductive monotype techniques. You will see multiple plate drops and use of stencils. The 60 minute video describes how to use the PinPress and Akua Kolor inks – tools that were not available when Julia's book was written. The DVD was filmed with 4 cameras so you can see exactly how it's done.

Workshop Descriptions

Painterly Paint Workshop

In this all day monothon, create single-drop and multiple-drop monotypes using Akua Kolor water-based inks. Learn the basic components of monotype, starting with inking a plate. Once you're comfortable with the basics, move on with Julia and Gail as they explore both reductive and additive techniques. After this workshop, you'll be comfortable layering color and stencils and ready to further explore this exciting art!

Relief Blocks & Stencils Workshop

Make your own relief blocks using Speedball's new easy-cut material and print a small edition using Akua Intaglio Ink. Next, create stencils using a variety of materials. Finally, explore various methods – including viscosity roll-ups – to incorporate these fixed repeatable elements in your Akua Kolor monotypes.

Drypoint Plates Workshop

Use a simple needle tool to etch an image in a plastic printmaking plate. Learn how to ink your plate using Akua Kolor water-based inks, and print without a press. Develop the plate with monotype elements to create more singular impressions from the fixed drypoint matrix – a great juxtaposition of spontaneity and traditional printmaking.

Books

In addition to the popular Monotype: Mediums and Methods of Painterly Printmaking, Gail and Julia Ayres have written another essential book for monotype printmakers: Waterbased Monotype Techniques With Createx, a 36 page illustrated booklet which explains the many uses of the Createx Monotype Colors. Chapters include proper materials, techniques, troubleshooting, much more.

Julia has also written articles for American Artist, Watercolor, Art Materials Retailer and Southwest Art Magazines, including Employing the Additive Technique for Creating Monotypes

Julia and her engineer inventor husband, David, live on a small ranch near Locust Grove, Oklahoma. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute, the Massachusetts College of Art, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art School. She also studied privately with a number of well-known artists, including William Maynard, Ralph Love, and Frederick Taubes.

Additional information about making monotypes can be found on the Ayres' web site.

“Monotype is a spontaneous technique that gives you the freedom to work with a wide selection of materials…” - Julia Ayres