I had two people over today so that they could learn how to use a Gelli Plate for printing. I showed a bunch of different techniques to try. One of them printed on paper mainly with stencils and the other mainly on fabric. I of course forgot completely to take any photos while they were here or of their work. But I did take a few photos of some new techniques that I tried.

These first three are done with a combination of alcohol inks and paint. I did more than these but these are my favorites. The alcohol inks dry very quickly and give a different look than the paint alone. Thanks to my friend Paula for letting me borrow her equipment and inks to try this out.

Then I wanted to try using magazine photos for a resist on the Gelli plate. The first one on the left is a failed one but I kind of liked it. It took me a while to get this one figured out. It wouldn’t work with cheap paint. It worked best with Golden liquid paint. The magazine type also makes a big difference too. I had a very poor selection of magazines and even tried a few calendar photos. The bear and the man holding the gun did work. Now that I have figured this out, I’m not sure how I would use these in artwork as I seldom use figures. But I’ll see if I can use them for something.

Then I did several that look kind of like this only in different colors. These are for backgrounds and I do use these in collages quite a bit. If you’re interested in trying Gelli plate printing there are tons of YouTube videos available that explain the process. You can make your own plate but I find the “real” ones well worth the money as they print much better than the homemade ones. It’s a lot of fun and if you give it a try, I’d love to see your results.