Lessons from a Gelli Plate

Although I love to play with art supplies, my time is usually a learning experience as well.  Recently I tried out some new (to me) approaches to gelli printing, and learned a few lessons.

I worked on a dozen prints at once with just a few tools, allowing me to work in a my small space with the 8 x 10 gelli plate.  I reworked some of my older prints too, so that I didn't end up with another bunch of new prints without an end game in mind.

Mostly I used a brush rather than a brayer to apply the paint, and I didn't mix the colors completely together.  This resulted in much more texture.  My favorite "stencil" is still sequin waste, and here I also used textured wallpaper.  The black dots are just the end of the paint tube.

Often I printed just part of the plate, as you can see here with the black:

I drew in the paint too:

I managed to silence my inner critic, remembering that different prints are good for different things.  Here, I lightened up some overly dark prints with some white paint so that I can stamp on them in black:

Some of these will be used for collage, some for handmade books, and some for artist trading cards or greeting cards.