Manhatten Rhythm

Mixed Media Painting by Dennis Pendleton. This is a large monotype, 30 x 40 inches, that I actually painted in less than 5 minutes. I was at Hand Graphics Print Shop in Santa Fe with my artist friend Rod Goebel and I had been watching him paint monotypes all morning. That afternoon he told me to paint one but I only had two minutes. The day before we had talked about a process where you clear your mind then paint in a meditative state and that is what I wanted to do. I quickly decided to paint the traffic on 5th Avenue in Manhatten, a decision we both laughed about.

A monotype goes through a printing press so everything you want on the left has to be painted on the right and everything you want on the right has to be painted on the left. Without thinking, I just started painting as fast as I could. A monotype is painted on plexiglass and you can move quickly with the brushes. After three minutes Rod told me I was finished so I spattered some mineral spirits in the sky and stopped. At this point a sheet of paper is laid on the plexiglass and then it is run through the printing press. It is an exciting time when the paper is lifted of the plexiglass and the artist see's the image for the first time.

After working that fast I really had no idea what to expect. We decided that the image captured the hustle and bustle of the traffic on Fifth Avenue so I was happy. Rod continued painting monotypes for the rest of the day and when we left they were all hanging up to dry. The next time I was in Taos I visited Rod in his studio and we looked at all the monotypes from that day. He was such an inspiring artist who left us to early and seeing this print again reminds me of our friendship and how much I miss him.

In this monotype you can see where colors got smeared together, mineral spirits dripped onto the plexiglass, and visible brush strokes are everywhere. Even though this is not the traditional way of working in a print room, I love all this because it shows the artist at work. We have an excellent print room at the Art Students League of Denver where I continue to paint monotypes and I love the excitement I experience when the paper iis lifted off the plexiglass and I see the image for the first time. It is like being a child again where you don't know any rules and you just enjoy the process. Happy Painting! Dennis Pendleton