Monoprinting with the GELLI Plate

I've been experimenting with gelatin monoprinting for a couple of years, and posted about it in 2010.  Since I also teach that class locally, I was curious when the new GELLI printing plate came onto the market last spring.  At first, I was adamant about sticking to my "homemade" method and not caving in to the idea of needing to buy the latest and greatest gadget. That was until I went to class with only enough prepared gelatin for my expected class of  7 . . . that had increased to 9 students.

I bought it!  It works!

I've reconsidered, and now the class supply list includes a GELLI printing plate for each student!  The benefits:  I no longer have to mix up three large pans of gelatin the night before class. No more spilled and hardened gelatin in my refrigerator.  There's no waste, since this new product lasts indefinitely.  Each student brings their own printing plate to class.  And it answers the question once posed to me by a very strict vegan:  What's the alternative to using Knox gelatin, which contains animal products?   The GELLI plate!

However, I've noticed one interesting phenomenon when printing on fabric with this new surface.  I was using acrylic paint, so I mixed textile medium with it.  When I rolled that onto the plate with my brayer, the paint mixture immediately began to separate, resulting in this background texture:

My first GELLI print on fabric, with snow? leaves?

A second attempt with straight acrylic paint gave me a solid-covered background.  So the textile medium does a little random dance on the GELLI surface, which is pretty cool!
I might (no, I WILL) miss the cracks and gouges that come with using real gelatin.  They produced some interesting, organic lines on the printed fabric.  And I'll miss the cool feeling of the sheets of gelatin in my hands.  Yes, I liked that!

Painted GELATIN plate with an interesting crack.

And now we're here at the end of 2011.  I feel pretty good about this year's theme word, FOCUS.  I got better at it.  The theme for 2012 is MAINTAIN MOMENTUM.  How about yours?   Please leave a comment and share your mantra (if you have one) for the new year.  Thanks for following along with me, and I'll see you next year!

Going back to October . . .

Gelatin Monoprinting

I was the "presenter" at the October meeting of my mixed media group in Portland. [Each month, a member "presents" (teaches/shares) the workshop, which lasts about 4-6 hours.]  My topic was gelatin monoprinting.

The night before the meeting, each person made a gelatin printing plate, made from plain gelatin and water.  I doubled my batch, using two boxes of Knox plain gelatin (4 envelopes each) and 2 cups of hot water.  After refrigerating overnight, I had a nice thick rectangle of gelatin, about 9" x 11".

Some people leave their gelatin plate in its pan, but I take mine out for printing.  It begins to develop cracks and other interesting lines and marks without the confines of the pan holding it together.

The next step is to paint on the gelatin, then use strips of newspaper to create a design.  The paper strips act as a resist, so the areas they cover won't be printed.  I was thinking about one of our family's favorite children's books called "Barn Dance," and I painted a low, full moon illuminating a grassy orchard.  Here's my first print on watercolor paper:

Note the stick-straight lines in the trees, made by using torn strips of newspaper.

[Click on any image to choose another size to view.]

Before pulling any more prints, I misted the gelatin plate with water and wiped off the remaining paint with a paper towel.  I repainted the scene, but drew the trees with my fingers this time (instead of using strips of paper), removing paint like this:

  

and here were the resulting prints:

First print on white PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric

2nd print made from same gelatin plate, after adding more paint to that still remaining on the gelatin.                                 

(I love Jacquard's Lumiere paints!  That's what I used to get the luminosity in the blues and  greens.)

  
  By now, the gelatin plate was getting these interesting cracks and crevices, which give texture and character to the prints I was making.  The plate would last a lot longer, but was taking up too much refrigerator space.  So I went all out, covering the plate with paint as I composed this desert-in-spring scene:

 

 Note the large crack about 1/3 from left side, and the pockmarks on the green foreground.

 

While it's not my favorite print, this ones does have some interesting sections.  I like the brush marks in the blue sky, and those in the lower left corner.  The colorful dots will become flowers.  Threadsketching and quilting might bring it to life!

 

 This was my third experience with gelatin monoprinting, and the best so far.  I learned much more this time; it's a fun & exciting process and is very forgiving.   I can't wait to try it again!  But first, I want to quilt these pieces, which I'll show when they're done.