I love monoprinting. In the past I have tried different types
of mono printing; I have used glass to draw into and press object into, I have used oil based inks, and a printing press using perspex as a printing plate. I
found out about the Gelli Printing Plate at the beginning of 2012. I find it a
great medium to use and really love the textures it picks up and how easy it is
to use.
For more information on the creators of the Gelli plate
follow this link.
I love my Gel Printing Plate.
The equipment you need to print with is quite minimal.
• Gel
Print Plate
• Perspex
Sheet
• Brayer
• Paint
• Imagination
These photos show the Gel printing plate and the Perspex
sheet. You can see how responsive and flexible the plate is, it is great for
picking up textures of delicate objects such as feathers and leaves. The Perspex
sheet is used to protect the plate and if I am doing prints on top of prints
the images will line up. I use the black lines that frame the plate to guide me
as to where I need to put the paper.
Brayers are used to apply the paint to the Gel printing
plate and for rollering textures into the paint. I have three types – A soft
roller, a hard roller and a small soft roller.
I use various paints each type/consistency reacts
differently. The paints I enjoy using are Liquitex, they are Heavy Body Artist
Acrylic Paint, they have a thick consistency for traditional art techniques
using brushes or knives, as well as for experimental, mixed media, collage and
printmaking applications.
“Imagination is more
important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and
understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” -Albert Einstein
If you use your imagination for mono printing your prints
will be very varied and interesting.
When it comes to mark-making on the gel plate, you can use
various things such as bubble wrap, sequin waste, buttons, rubber stamps, embellishments, fruit nets, dried leaves, stencils, corks and anything that
makes a mark. The softness of the Gelli plate picks up the delicate textures
amazingly. I have previously used feathers and dried leaves, the print is really clear and it shows all the details.
How to monoprint
First you squeeze the paint out onto the plate; a little
goes a long way. So a little blob is enough.
You then gently roll out the paint with the soft brayer.
Make sure that the paint is spread out evenly.
You just need a thin coating of paint on the plate.
This is a wooden embellishment that I discovered in the art shop, as soon as I saw them I thought they would be great to use on my Gelli plate. I am always on the lookout for interesting textures and things to use on my plate. To use it I stuck it to a cork using a glue stick> I was very pleased with the marks it made.
This photo shows me adding textures and marks to the printing plate. Here I am using taffeta tied in a bunch, I used my small roller to press the taffeta into the plate.
This is the plate after I have made all the marks, stamping,
and rollered onto the plate.
Here I have put the paper over the plate and gently pressed down
and gave it a rub. The print is then transferred from the plate onto the paper.
This is the print that I produced. You can see all the
textures that have been made from the various things that I used for example;
the circles were from a bottle top, the thin lines were from matchstick stuck
onto card, the windmill shape at the bottom is a hand carved stamp that I made
and the blocks at the side are from an eraser.
Once you have made a print it needs some where to dry, this
is the drying line that I have made to hand my prints; it can hold up to 20
prints at a time.
Here are some of the cards I have made using the monoprints from my Gelli Plate –
