White Line Watercolor Monotypes

In the height of the pandemic, while I was falling in love with printmaking, I discovered a unique hybrid painting and woodblock printing technique called “white line” or “provincetown” printing. The style was developed by a group of artists, mostly women, working in Provincetown Massachusetts after World War I who became known as the Provincetown Printers.

I begin by carving my hand-drawn designs into a woodblock using a gouge carving tool. This leaves a shallow gutter in the wood which will act as a barrier, or a “white line”, between fields of color. I then paint a small area of the wood with water-based paint (watercolor, or gouache), taking care to avoid spreading the pigment across the carved gutters. Then, I place watercolor paper on top of the woodblock and, using a wooden spoon, I press over the area I have just painted in order to transfer the paint from the woodblock to the paper.

Because watercolor and gouache dry quickly, I have to work in small sections at a time - around 1 inch (2.5cm) square. If I try to cover a larger area with paint and then try to transfer, the paint will have dried to the block, and won’t budge. Bit by bit the image is built up as I add color one small area at a time.