Roger Broer – Arts Column

Hill City artist to demonstrate monotype printmaking 

Emmeline Elliott 

Have you ever seen a backward painting? 

That’s one way monotype printmaking artist Roger Broer describes his art. 

“Everything’s done in reverse,” Broer said 

In monotype printmaking, a drawing or painting is done on a flat and nonabsorbent surface. Broer prefers to use an oil-based paint on Plexiglas and then adds or removes part of the paint from the print that is made. 

The Hill City, S.D. artist uses only a few tools to help him complete a monotype print: a 3-inch soft rubber brayer that looks like a small roller, a sharpened plastic eraser, a wipe-out potter’s tool that resembles the shape of a pencil and cheap toilet paper, “the kind of paper you find in gas stations, schools and jail,” he said. 

Broer developed a hand burnish method to make the print. He lays a dry paper on a painted plate and rubs it with an agate stone attached to a handle while carefully holding the paper. 

“I have control as to how much paint I take up,” Broer said of hand burnishing. “I can vary the pressure with my hand.” 

He doesn’t have a printing press at his studio. Broer said a press applies a constant pressure and may remove more painted material than desired. The hand burnish method is also advantageous in that it gives him flexibility to work anywhere, he said. 

Monotyping is Broer’s main medium, but he also works with painting, sculpture and drawing. 

He made the transition from painting to monotype printmaking in the early 1980s when his painting prices started to outpace the market. 

“I had to come up with something for a wider range of people and I had to come up with a product that I could do quickly,” Broer said. 

Monotype printmaking forces artists to work swiftly, Broer said, because the paint’s surface begins to dry after it’s applied to a plate. It takes Broer about 30 minutes to finish a print in its initial stage. Then he can work back into the printed product at a later time. 

“With monotype, everything is fresh and new,” he said, adding that he can and often does start thinking of his next project while making a print. 

Although monotyping may be fast, it’s also an exhausting process, Broer said. In a typical day, he’ll complete one or two prints. 

Drawing is an essential skill to monotype printmaking, Broer said. One has to understand design, composition and how to make a line move to be successful with this medium, he said. 

“What I’m doing is just a really good drawing,” Broer said. 

Broer, an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, often turns to animals as a source of inspiration “because there’s a certain human quality about them.” 

He’ll speak about some of his prints on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at Dakota State University Karl E. Mundt Library Art Gallery . A reception starts at 5 p.m. with an artist talk to follow at 6 p.m. and a special monotype printmaking demonstration by Broer at 7 p.m. The activities are sponsored as a collaboration of the Mundt Art Gallery , DSU Diversity Services and the Madison Area Arts Council Chautauqua Series. Broer’s work will be exhibited at the Mundt Art Gallery throughout November. His work can also be seen on his website at www.lakotart.com 

Broer is an internationally recognized monotype printmaking artist. His work is part of numerous collections, including the Department of Interior at Washington , D.C. ; Pierre Cardin at Paris , France ; and Museum of Nebraska Art at Kearney , Neb. Broer has awards in more than 50 national shows. This year he earned first place in graphics at the Red Cloud Indian Art Show at Pine Ridge , S.D. and was granted Best of Show at the 29th Artists of the Plains Show & Sale in Sioux Falls . 

MAAC meetings are changing beginning in November. They are now held the first Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at the new Community Arts Center at 106 SE 2nd St. The public is invited to attend. Visit the MAAC Web site at www.madisonareaartscouncil.org for more community art news and events.