Gelli printing plate that is….
One of the funnest things to hit mixed media for a while, I have been waiting for them to become more easily available over here in Australia. I finally got mine last week, and then had to buy a brayer because the one I thought I had suddenly couldn’t be found anywhere. However, today, between the camp drop-off and the Chiropractor, I suddenly had a few hours with nothing but some dishes to do, and decided that I had waited long enough.
Here it is, the calm before the storm. This lasted about 30 seconds before I realised that I was going to get paint absolutely everywhere. And I had the best time doing it.
Invest in lots and lots of baby wipes. They get the acrylic paint off really easy. I loosened it up with the wipes, then a quick squirt with a water sprayer and dab with a clean rag and we were good to go. Although the final clean up did take an hour in the end. I was glad that the brayer I bought had a roller that popped off the handle which made washing up so much easier! The big stack of paper you can see at the end of the table there is all test prints and warm ups.
I spent the last week saving all my “business” envelopes for practice printing… all those security patterns are just so pretty. I’m going to cut these up and collage them together.
I also went through some of my 6×6 inch Scrapbook paper collection looking for ugly paper that I knew I wouldn’t use the way it was…. perfect as a base for printing over, and a bit sturdier than envelopes.
Finally, my 3 favourite pieces, were a little bit more of an experiment on watercolour paper. Much heavier texture again, but it has taken the acrylic paint and the stencilling so beautifully. All of these will make stunning backgrounds, they are miniature works of art already!
It was definitely a learning experience today, working out what stamps and stencils had the best effects and which didn’t work as well, and how fast the paint dried – super fast. It was really very freeing actually because there was just no time to sit and ponder over what was going where. If I took too long to think, it was dry, too late, and roll out some more paint!
I definitely want to expand my stencils, I have some fabulous ideas for some more hand cut ones, which I still need to photograph and share with you, and spend a bit more time making patterns and drawing into the paint. I will definitely be investing in some larger tubes of student acrylics though, as I went through a LOT of paint today…. and most of it ended up on the baby wipes!!
But seriously, just wow. I’m so glad I invested in a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate. I bought the 8×10″ size, which seems to be a good fit for me right now. I had heaps of fun printing, and ghost printing, and re-printing and over-printing as you probably can tell. It’s also infectious, after posting a shot to instagram, I had a friend on the phone wanting to know when she could come around and try it out too!
So, what new and amazing toys have you tried out lately? Show us what you’ve been up to!
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Laura Sennott
It’s addicting isn’t it! I don’t loose any paint to wipes, I print it on paper, and add white or yellow on top of your gelli plate and pick up all the bits of paint. Antibacterial gel is great for getting it clean when your all done. Looks like you had a great time, great stuff!
egratsia
It is addictive … I totally love it as well, I’ve tried transparencies, and done huge pages which I’ve prefolded to made signatures to sew as a book! Keep on gelli plating it’s good for the soul!!!
Sena
Welcome to the addiction! Wonderful prints, they make me want to go make more of my own, even though I have amassed a rather large stack of prints already 😀
Chandra
I agree with Laura just keep printing until the paints gone. Then you can add many layers to the one paper you use at the end of each main design. They make a great background. Looks like your getting great prints though! Have fun 🙂
Itaya
I love the idea of using business envelopes to warm up on! Very lovely prints. I do so love printing with my Gelli and using it for background art. 🙂