My Work Table Currently...

I'm working. I really am! Actually it's play to me. :) It's been a few days since I posted anything, so I thought I'd show you my work space and all the mixed media journal pages that I have in different stages of progress using techniques I'm learning from Katie Kendrick in her workshop Layered Impressions.

None of the pages you see are finished. They are in varying stages of progress right now. Katie feeds us a video, info, and an assignment every day, and I've been getting a page started to learn that day's lesson. This is the third week of the online workshop, and there's only one more week before it ends, so I have paint, paper, scissors, etc, flying everywhere, as you can see. The white sheet on the left is for yesterday's lesson, which I was about to start. It was a fun technique! I'll share the page at another time.

The page with the cat on it is actually the cover of a double record album, which will be a journal, of sorts when finished! I am having so much fun and learning so much! Can you tell that I'm having fun? lol

It's a messy workspace, but I wouldn't be able to work any other way. The mess feeds my creativity. Isn't that crazy? :)

I will share all of these again, plus some more, as I finish them, and hopefully they'll look better and you can tell more about them. I won't guarantee that my workspace will be any neater though! lol

I've just attended today's class on intuitive painting and palette knife painting, so I'm off to start another page or two! Hope something on here made you smile! :)

Layered Impressions Workshop-First Two Days

Monday I started a four week online workshop with Katie Kendrick at http://joyouslybecoming.typepad.com/joyouslybecoming/ . The first three days have been awesome. Following are the drawings that I did with my non-dominant hand the first day and the same drawings colored that I did the second day. Today's assignment is still in progress.

It was so much fun watching these characters evolve. I was late in registering because I couldn't make up my mind, and I had to order supplies, which didn't come in until just a few minutes ago, so I've had to improvise for the first exercises. That's okay though. I learned the process and had fun, and that's what's important.

This is a background made by using rubbings, which didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, but it's still usable and can always be added to. Besides, now that I have my supplies I can try another one. It's a fun process. :)

I still have a couple of prepped face drawings. Who knows? They may show up here later too! Hope one of my little characters made you smile.

Gelatin Plate Monoprints

More gelatin plate print fun. This one didn't scan well. The colors are actually metallic copper and red, and it's actually pretty in reality. I drew into the paint on the plate with a cotton swab, then printed onto printmaking paper. The sheets are a little bigger than my scanner, so the lid kind of wrinkled the paper.

I used my finger to paint onto the plate for this one, and it was so much fun. I like the print too!

This is a ghost print of the one above. I like it even better than the first one!

Another ghost print where the paint left on the plate was drawn into with a cotton swab.

I used a plastic doily on the plate, but the paint was so thick that the print only picked up enough of it to resemble a ferris wheel, don't you think? I like it!

More cotton swab drawing into the paint on the plate.

More cotton swab drawing...

Ghost image paint with a feather drawn in with a brush handle...

Ghost image of the one above with the ferris wheel. I repressed the doily into the paint left on the plate.

These will all be cropped eventually and used in various ways. Some may be framed, other used for journals and/or collaging, etc.

I love the gelatin plate printing, and I've just found out that I can now buy one that stays ready to use. It's the Gelli Arts gel printing plate, and I know it can be ordered through Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. So when I get ready to play with these some more, maybe I can get one of these. I LOVE the feel of the gel and the give it has under the paper when I press it down on the paint with the real gelatin, but I'm going to have to try one of these.

The gelatin print fun is going for a rest for a while though. For the next month I'm going to be taking an online workshop from Katie Kendrick in mixed media techniques, called Layered Impressions. I'll share what I'm doing with y'all, hopefully as I do it, but if I get behind I'll try to catch up on the weekends.

Hope something on here brought a smile to your face. :)

Still Playing With Gelatin Prints

A few more of the prints I've pulled from a gelatin plate over the weekend. I made several more, but these are my favorites. So far, I have a total of 48 prints. Some will probably wind up as journal backgrounds and others will probably be cut up into smaller formats for other uses.

I made a smaller printing plate for these, which allowed for a white border on all four sides, even if they didn't get scanned that way. These happen to all be on printmaking paper.

Acrylic inks, using a plastic doily and an original stencil...

A ghost image of the first print, using a dog and fiber masks...

Acrylic inks, using a brush handle to draw into the ink...

Fluid acrylics, using a plastic doily and a wild turkey feather...

Acrylic inks, using an original cut out mask and a wild turkey feather...

Acrylic inks, using a plastic doily and a turkey feather...

Printer's ink, using the plastic doily, a bottle bottom, and brush handle writing...

Printer's ink, using an original mask and stencil...

Fluid acrylics, using the doily, a handmade stamp, and an original stencil...

Ghost image of the above print, using dog and tulip masks.

These are so much fun to make, and they look much better with a white border around them, so I can't wait to try a white mat on the ones I shared in the previous posts, where the print covered the whole paper.

I think I'm beginning to get the hang of it now! :)

More Gelatin Prints...And a Boo Boo or Two

 

Okay, this is the first print I pulled off a new gelatin plate that I had mixed up, let set, covered with tin foil, and set in the fridge overnight. I used acrylic inks instead of the fluid acrylics I used on the others. The inks worked fine, but the gelatin plate was a disaster. When I removed the tin foil, it had stuck in one place to the gel, but didn't pull any off, so that was ok. The underside of the foil, however, was covered in condensation, which had dripped onto the gel. I dried it off with a paper towel and rolled the ink onto the plate, placed my objects, and pulled a print onto my speedball printmaking paper.

This print pulled off fine, and I like the colors and patterns, etc. I was tickled with how well the inks worked.

So I quickly pulled a ghost image. Not so tickled with the image, but it can still be used. By the way, I'm playing and experimenting, so I quickly cut the masks out myself. Didn't worry about making them perfect. :o

I tried different colors and layed a large bandage gauze across the left side for texture. Unfortunately, the gel didn't pick it up and I had a large blank white space on the print, so I re-inked that side of the plate, added some masks, and re-printed. I also used a piece of lace in the corner.

I like this one okay. But now the gel plate, despite my wiping it off between prints was getting really tacky. A thin layer of gel pulled off in spots onto the print.

I tried thalo green and metallic copper on this one with a mask and some eyelash yarn. I was so disgusted with the tacky gelatin that I didn't really try on this one, and when I pulled it up, the gelatin just started coming apart on me, and I was done with it. Threw it out the door! :/

I was still wanting to play, so I rolled inks directly onto the metal cookie sheet and pulled a print. I wouldn't want to make a lot of these, but it'll make a good background for something, and I see interesting shapes in it, so I'll keep it in my stash.

As for the gelatin printmaking, I'm not giving up. I figured out that the condensation from the foil added water to the gelatin, causing it to weaken and get tacky, so I know not to do that again! :o I didn't cover the plate I made before this one and it did fine for 2-3 days, although I overmixed my paints and the prints turned out a little muddy and blah. I'm going to make another gelatin plate and print another layer on top of some of my first ones for more interest. We'll see how that turns out!

Boo boos are great for learning and remembering what you learn! Don't be afraid to try! :)

More Gelatin Print Practice!

I made another batch of prints yesterday from the same gelatin plate I used before, only I managed to turn the gel over for a smoother side to print these. However, one of the places where I imprinted with a wooden ring on the first side came all the way through, and in pulling the prints it kept coming out, so I finally just left it out and let it be a white disk.

These are made playing with two different strands of fun yarns, a stencil, and a feather. Again, I used what was within easy reach. I can't wait until I get my workspace organized, so I can find what I need or want to use. I may, or may not, add to these prints sometime, but for now I'm just enjoying the process. I love the process!

Wish the feather quill had picked up! I may have to add one! This print is on Speedball printmaking paper; the rest are on rice paper. The rice paper is more absorbent than the printmaking paper and looks duller. I think I prefer the printmaking paper with the brighter colors, but I guess it depends on my mood, plus a mat will do wonders for any of them, I'm sure. :)

Ghost print left from the first print...

First print...

Ghost print pulled and flipped...

Ghost print after I rolled some paint over the yarn and feather...

First print...

Ghost print...

First print...

Ghost print-Doesn't the hole look like a medalion?

I retired the gelatin plate after this batch, because it was beginning to come apart anyway. I'm thinking I may try a round container for the gelatin plate next, kind of like a mandela. I'd like to try some smaller ones than these 9x12" ones. and some different papers, too, so we'll see what turns up next time. Be back later...

First Gelatin Prints

Hello out there! I have not abandoned my blog. Life just took over for a while. :)

I haven't done much creatively in a few weeks, but a few days ago I saw gelatin printmaking on Utube and thought I'd give it a try. I think it was Linda Germain demonstrating. These are my first attempts. Unfortunately, the gelatin wasn't set in the middle when I put the tin foil cover over it to set it in the fridge, and when I pulled it off it pulled a chunk of gelatin off with it, thus my gel plate wasn't smooth, as it should have been. Rather than start over though, I just went with what I had. I found a wooden ring in the junk drawer and impressed it into the gel three times, then took a fork and ran the tines along the edges and made a few jabs around, just for added interest.

I used only what I had within reach, bottles of yellow ochre, ultramarine blue, and magenta Golden fluid acrylics, and my roller and plate still had some black on them from the last time I used them, which mixed in. Four of them are on Speedball printmaking paper and four are on rice paper. They are 9x12". A couple of them turned out a little dark and muddy looking, but, hey, I'm experimenting here. :)

The one above was pulled from the gel plate with only paint rolled on. The marks are from the torn gelatin.

This one was pulled from the plate after I rolled paint on it, added magenta paint drips, a handmade stencil, and layed some wild turkey feathers on it.

Another one pulled from the plate with only paint rolled over the torn gelatin plate. This one is a little too blue for me, but if I look, I can see all sorts of images in it, which I love.

This is a ghost image off the blue print, meaning I pulled a second print before adding more color.

I layed turkey feathers on top of the paint and pulled this print. The circles are where I pressed the wooden ring into the gel. I love the imagery, but the background colors got a little muddy as they dried.

Paint, paper I had cut a heart from, and feathers.

Mostly magenta paint, paper I had cut a butterfly from, and turkey feathers that already had paint on them from other prints.

Paint, stencil, and feathers; the feathers already had paint on them, so I layed half the feather on the white paper, causing half the feather to be in reverse color. Pretty cool! I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this!

So this is my first batch, and I can't wait to do some more! I love printmaking, and this was so much fun! Maybe I'll pull a few more off this plate while I wait for a smooth one to set!

Have fun with your creative experiments! :)