A monotype is a print made by drawing or painting an image on a smooth, non-absorbent surface and then transferring that image onto a sheet of paper, usually using a printing press. The smooth surface, or matrix, was historically a copper etching plate, but in contemporary work it can vary from zinc or glass to acrylic glass. Monotypes can also be created by inking an entire surface and then, using brushes or rags, removing ink to create a subtractive image (i.e., creating lights from a field of opaque color) before transferring the image to paper.
Unlike monoprinting, monotyping produces a unique work of art, or monotype, because most of the ink is removed from the matrix during the initial pressing. Although subsequent re-printings, or “ghost prints,” are sometimes possible, they differ greatly from the first print and are generally considered inferior. Monotypes are often executed spontaneously with no initial sketch, and they are sometimes embellished with stencils, watercolor, solvents, brushes, or other tools.