Gelli Plate Printmaking

1. Welcome: Thanks for taking this skill share class on creating gelatin plate prints. This is a fun and simple art form for people of all ages or skill levels. You can even mix this technique with other printmaking methods to create colorful, new versions of your existing artwork. Learning gelatin plate printing doesn't require any prior knowledge. However, a couple lessons in this class will refer to things I've covered in other classes. You may want to watch my Intro to Linocut printmaking class. Your project is to create jelly plate prints using whatever colors and materials you choose. I'd love to see your abstract designs, ghost prints, or mixed method pieces. It's all up to you after you create your art. Please share pictures in the class project section. I love to see what you create. Let's get started. 2. Materials: For this class. The most important material is a gelatin plate. You can buy these from an art retailer such as Speedball or Jelly Arts to create your art. You'll also need paint. Preferably acrylic, any kind of paper and something to spread the paint. I'll be using a Brayer, but you can use an old credit card or a rubber spatula. Baby wipes are great for cleaning the plate in between prints. Additionally, you can bring a large range of other materials into your project. Depending on what your vision is. You may want cardboard and scissors, or an Exacto knife for making stencils or items from nature like leaves. Corrugated cardboard, plastic netting, or bubble wrap are great for creating textures. You can make marks with Q tips or paint brushes. And if you want to use the plate to transfer an image, you'll want a magazine page or a hand drawn image of your own and a Sharpie marker. All of this will make more sense as we go over the process during the class. Let's get started. 3. Basic Gelli Plate Printing: First, let's start with the basic process of gelatin plate printing. We'll start by applying paint to the plate and then spreading it all over the plate. I'm using a Brayer, but you can spread the paint with an old credit card or a rubber spatula. Once the plate is coated with paint, we'll put the paper on top to print a solid background layer. This can be absolutely any kind of paper, regular white paper, construction paper for more color. Or even old book pages or music sheets. You can use a print making barn to press the paper or you can just rub it with your hands. Now, set the paper aside and apply a different color of paint onto the plate. With the new layer of paint applied, we'll drop objects onto it to block those areas of paint from getting onto the paper, allowing the first color to show through. I'm using leaves, but you may want to use other objects or cut out your own stencils from pieces of cardboard, like a cereal box. Totally up to you. Now. Place the paper back onto the plate and print. And there you have it, basic jelly plate printed. Next we'll make ghost print he. 4. Ghost Prints: After you've done your initial print, put the paper aside and grab another piece of paper. We're going to use this one to make a ghost print. Remove any objects from the plate, then press the paper. Ghost prints don't always come out perfectly, but sometimes they create really cool reverse images of your main print. Sometimes they even look better than the original. 5. Using Textures: There are lots of other materials you can use in gelatin plate printing, making this a fun way to reuse products you might have otherwise just thrown away. Let's experiment with those materials to create some different textures. Once again, we'll start by covering the plate with one color of paint. Now we'll bring out the texture material. I have here, a piece of the box that I've peeled in half to reveal the inside. Lay that on top of the plate and press then remove now print onto a blank piece of paper. Set that aside and make a ghost print of that design. Then spread a new color onto the block. I'll place some stencils onto the plate and print onto the first sheet of paper with a textured back. Now we have our first print, remove the stencils, make another ghost print. Using the previous ghost print made, you can repeat the process with more colors and other objects. Experimenting is part of the fun of gelatin plate printing. 6. Image Transfer: Jelly plates can also be used to create colorful designs with traced or hand drawn images. I have a magazine page that I'm going to place under the jelly plate using a Sharpie marker. I'll trace the image onto the plate. Just remember, your image will be reversed when you printed it. Once you have the image traced, covered with a thin layer of paint, lighter colors work best. Finally, print your image. By the way, you don't have to trace an image. You can also draw directly onto the plate. Again, keep in mind that the image will be reversed when you print. 7. Image Transfer with Multiple Layers: Now, let's put together a few things we've covered into one print with an image tracing of this crocodile or alligator, maybe plus multiple textures and colors. Okay. Okay. A. 8. Mixing Gelli Plate & Other Techniques: To demonstrate the versatility of jelly plate printing, I'm going to mix it with Linocut printing. If you want to learn more about Linocut, you can watch several of my other classes. Normally, I'd print this design in black and white. But if I want to add color, I can use gelatin plate to create a colorful background. I'll go through the normal process of creating a jelly plate print. This will be the background for our print. Let's set this paper aside and ink the line o cut block. Once we've applied the ink, we'll take the paper we pressed onto previously and press that onto the block. Now I have a more vibrant final print. Of course, block printing isn't the only other technique you can use to mix with Jell Play Printing. Use your imagination and see what you come up with. 9. Textured Gelli Plate Backgrounds for Linocut: Oh. 10. Wrap Up: Thanks again for taking this class. Please share your creations in the class project section and feel free to ask me any questions you might have. I'm always happy to help. You can see more of my art and find links to all my scale. Share classes at Matt, Reno.com Enjoy making more gelatin plate art.