I got into gelli plate printing whenI received a gelli plate as a gift.
I love its unpredictability. You never really know what you're going to get.
I love this surprise aspect of art making. I've been an artist and art teacher almost all my life and have never encountered a medium as fun and surprising as gelli plate printing.
The panel below shows the culmination of this process up to this point. After gelli printing for a few years I had so much paper and art junk I started just tearing up pieces of gelli prints and sticking them to the plate, then picking them up with acrylic. I love what I get! Sometimes I add to them or draw into them.
These are all 8" x 10". I made a video of this process which you can see on my YouTube channel and I'll be making more. This is my current pursuit, and, if you've been following along , you know I've also tried this on my 16" x 20" plate to make bigger compositions.
This is where my heart currently lies. It's what I'm doing. This, plein air painting and art journalling. But, because work with a variety of groups, I also keep playing with other methods, so scroll down to see more.
There's a lot of sharing around all this on the "Learn Gelli Plate Printing" Facebook group which is a fun, generous community of gelli printers that you might like to join if you haven't already.
Botanical Gelli Palte Printing
The panel below shows some botanical prints made with real plants. I use both acrylic and water soluble oil paint.
The flatter, more colourful and playful ones are usually acrylic. The more soulful ones with the deeper colours are usually the ones made with water soluble oil.
Again, there are a few demos of this process on my You Tube channel and a lot of discussion and sharing on botanical gelli printing on the "Learn Gelli Plate Printing" Facebook group.
Direct Painting on the Plate
I like the minimalist results shown in the prints below, which are one pull prints of drawings painted right on the plate. I painted the plats designs in black and picked them up with ivory mixed with a titch of umber. This is a great method for folks who haven't learned to design and draw yet, as you can put an image under the plate and trace it.
I haven't made a vide of this yet, but I'll put that on my 'To Do' list.
Using Gelli Plate Papers to 'Paint' with Collage
I also really like using gelli printed paper to fill in value blocks in 'paintings' rather than using just paint.
To purchase work, see The Gallery, and for lesson info see the info on the Homepage.