Explosion Of Color – Part 2

One of the main reasons I like printing with the Gelli plate is I LOVE experimenting with COLOR!!

I also like to use a variety of items I have around the house to make PATTERNS on the Gelli plate.

Here are some of my experiments:

I used a pencil eraser to make the lines on the left and a jar lid and rubber comb to make the patterns on the right.

I used paper that had a raised pattern to create the print below:

The print on the left shows the positive and negative printing of a cardboard slide mount.  I also used a circle stencil and foam stamp.  I used a small pinwheel to create the patterns on the right.

You will see some of Golden’s High Flow Teal paint from yesterday’s post in the above left one…

A water bottle gives a watercolor effect to the leftover paint on the plate.  And this plastic comb makes a great pattern – the colors and patterns in this print reminds me of our flag:

I often like to make prints on deli paper because of its transparency.  I discovered that tissue paper works just as well (the purple print).  And I love printing on old maps:

I don’t like to waste any paint so I discovered that I could roll the excess paints from my rubber brayer onto pages from an old dictionary.  I used one of these pages in my weird bird on Wednesday.  I also like how it looks to print over papers I had previously collaged to a page:

I hope my printing experiments will spark some creative ideas for you to try on your own Gelli plate!  It is so very FUN!  Yet, you may want to try it outdoors.  Lol!

Happy Printing!!  🙂

Explosion Of Color – Part 1

I usually use Golden “Fluid” Acrylics on my Gelli plate but the other day, I decided to try Golden’s “High Flow” Acrylics.  They are more liquid in consistency much like acrylic inks.

I discovered this video on YouTube that describes them.  I found it helpful and thought you might too:

Everything was going fine…until the lid got clogged and I kept trying to squeeze out the paint.  And then it EXPLODED!  Teal paint EVERYWHERE!!!

This is probably why I normally paint outside but on this day, I was in my kitchen.  It looked like a crime scene with blue paint!  Ugh!  Definitely HIGH FLOW!

It went all over me but then I looked behind me… I got the kitchen cabinets, the floor, the sink, the dishwasher!  Oh me, my!  It wasn’t pretty.  😦

I figured I had to clean it quickly before it all dried.  Thank goodness it dries a little slower…

I thought I would forever be seeing teal spots… I just had to laugh!  It was either that or cry!  😉

So I stayed CALM and PRINTED ON!   I will show you my gelli prints tomorrow.

I learned a valuable lesson that I wanted to pass on to you – if the lid is clogged, don’t continue to SQUEEZEEEEE!!!

Happy PAINTING!!!  🙂

Gelli-Printing Experiments

I enjoyed doing these acrylic printing experiments on the Gelli-plate while at the lake last week.

Here are some of my results…

Printing on deli paper, I added some metallic paint that I hadn’t done before – not sure you can see it in my photos but it gives an interesting sparkle to them:

I tried drawing patterns with a permanent black pen first before adding several layers of acrylics on the Gelli-plate.  The watercolor paper on the left is hot-press and the right is cold-press.  I found that the cold-pressed paper added a nice texture to my design.

I made various marks using Neocolors and Tombow markers first.  I used 90-lb hot-press watercolor paper on both of these:

I like how the water-soluble marks bled or softened depending how much water I used with the acrylic paints.

I added some watercolor or gouache paints to the background of these first.  Can you see the negative print of a leaf (red outline) on the print on the left?

And for this last one, I painted my circles with gouache first on 140-lb cold-pressed watercolor paper.  I was careful to allow some of the gouache to show through my acrylic paint layers.  I really liked this one:

I’m curious to hear what you think!

Happy experimenting!  🙂

A Map of Discovery

I made a new discovery with my Gelli-printing yesterday.  I discovered how wonderful old maps take layers of color!  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Oh, the possibilities!!!  I can’t wait to use them in a collage!

I next discovered that I can print over my own drawings that I did with a fine, black Sharpie pen.  Here are some tree shapes I did:

I will probably cut these up and use them in a collage but I am excited to create a drawing that I could possibly draw, print and frame!

I made almost 100 prints yesterday.  Here are a few favorites on 90 lb hot press paper:

And some I did on deli paper:

Do you have a favorite color combination?  I’d love to hear from you!

I hope to show you how I am using some of my prints in a collage soon.

Happy Exploring!  🙂

Double The Fun

I wanted to give a shout out for Jodi at Life In Between and her daughter-in-law, Colleen for their Etsy shop – McKinney x 2 Designs!  I purchased a little gift for a friend and one of Jodi’s beautiful watercolor cards.  I am very pleased with the quality of their artwork and the fast service, right to my door!  They look like they will be doubly successful – YAY!

Speaking of FUN!  Here is a rainbow of Gelli prints I did yesterday:

I did some on 90 lb hot press watercolor paper and some on deli paper.  I used Golden Fluid Acrylics.  It was super fun to mix the colors and try a variety of stencils and other patterns.

One such experiment was using a domino to imprint patterns:

Double the fun to create the papers and use them in a collage some day…

Cheers!  🙂

Leaf Notes

I know I left you hanging yesterday, like a leaf on a tree… LOL!  So here it is – the moment you have been waiting for – a before and after photo of my watercolor leaves!  😉

I finished them with gesso and added some “leaf” notes for my hubby and myself with pencil.  I thought these little reminders would be great to put on the fridge or left in unexpected places.  We all like to feel loved and appreciated!  🙂

The other images are gift tags I’m making for another project.  I painted these on both sides with watercolor and the gesso – here is an example of one I made for myself:

I added a little glitter to these tags too.  Other ideas are tucking them into a card for a friend, give as a bookmarker or use as a place setting at a special dinner, like Easter.  They are fun to write a message of inspiration on one side and a person’s name on the other side but you could do whatever you want.

Speaking of shapes, here are my leftover stencils:

One of the nice things about gesso is that it works as a glue so was able to complete their shapes by gluing there openings closed.  I could then use the negative and positive shapes on my gelli-printing plate!

The above is an example of using my positive and negative shapes with layers of Golden Fluid Acrylic paints.  Aren’t they just AWESOME?!

I will show you more of my gelli prints tomorrow – oh, the colors!!!  :-)))

Happy Creating!

P.S.  If you were to leave a “leaf” note for yourself or someone, what would it say?!  I’d love to hear from you!

Leave It To Me – Part 1

I love fall and the leaves changing colors!  This has inspired me to do some experimental leaf printing.

In some ways, my finished piece looks a little like a map:

I started by painting leaves from my yard with acrylic paint and then stamping them onto cold press 140 lb watercolor paper.  I then added some wax pastel crayons to the printed leaves and a little watercolor paint to my paper:

I liked how this looks but wanted to add definition with a black pen – I used a Zig Writer 0.5 mm ink pen for outlining:

I then added another layer of watercolor:

And finished it by outlining the color changes with my black pen.

The colors feel like summer as it starts to change to fall.

Would love to know what you think!

Happy Creating!  🙂

My Love of Nature

I was looking for inspiration this weekend and I discovered these wonderful paper strip collages by Darlene Maciuba-Koppel in Art Journaling Magazine by Somerset Studio.  You may want to check out her blog: cinnamonpink.typepad.com

From her inspiration, I created this paper collage:

It says, “Keep your love of nature – for that is the true way to understand art.”

I started with a print I made several years ago using gelatin as a printing plate, (this was before the Gelli-Plate) and a variety of leaves, etc from the lake:

The above is a sampling of some I had made.  I decided to choose the one on the right and cut into strips using a paper cutter.

I used Matte Medium to glue my painted strips to 140 lb cold press paper.  In between these strips, I used pages from an old book on flowers.

I sandwiched my glued collage between wax paper and used a stack of old dictionaries to help it lie flat while it dried.

I then wrote the quote about nature I found on the internet.  I added a couple of rubber stamps – a feather and a tree.  I doodled the rest with a black pen – using the plants in my yard as inspiration, such as a blueberry bush:

My assistant, Jack helped me – here he is showing off for the camera:

A Daylily in bloom:

And Coral Bells – but my assistant got his tail in the way:

May you find inspiration from nature today!

Happy Creating!  🙂