The Evolution of a Gel Print

This story begins here, with a few solid colors printed on a piece of watercolor paper.

There were so many things I liked about this original print. The colors are soothing and the overall composition is quite nice. I could have stopped here and been happy. In fact, it may be fair to say I should have stopped here, or at least been a bit more cautious as I proceeded. But as you can see, I forged madly ahead with handmade stencils and more passes on the plate until I ended up here:

Yikes! This definitely falls into the it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time category. Even so, I really love how the bottom half came out. As I looked more at this print, I decided it had a split personality and I wasn't sure what to do to make everything work together. So, I cropped my favorite parts, ending up with three smaller pieces.

The beauty of printing on watercolor paper, is that it's sturdy enough for collage. I ended up doing a lot of collage on this part of the print.

 

There was a lot I liked in this section, but I wasn't so happy with the red and gold, so again collage came to the rescue!

And finally, my favorite part of the original print:

For a very process-oriented artist, as I tend to be, this is such a satisfying and enjoyable way to work. 

I'm linking this to Carolyn Dube's Colorful Gelli Print Party and to Paint Party Friday. Check them both out to see all of the wonderfully creative things people are doing with paint! Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  I always appreciate your comments.

Gelli Plate Monoprint

It's hard to imagine anything much more relaxing and fun than playing with the gelli plate. I've had mine over a year and so far I've used it primarily to make collage papers. But after taking Carla Sonheim's Gelli Plate Printmaking Introductory online class, I've learned some new techniques to use with the plate to make monoprints that are beautiful pieces of art in their own right. This print is on watercolor paper, made with simple handmade stencils. 

Gel plate + Gel pen = Face #8

This is my face #8 for the 29 Faces Challenge and I have to say that I really like it! I did this one last summer on an index card. I was playing around with my gel plate, paint and a spray bottle. The textures turned out great. After it dried, I saw a face, just waiting for a few simple lines to bring it to life. My white gel pen turned out to be just right over the darker background. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!