Video Preview

I am working on a short video demo of gel printing on envelopes, and here is a little preview. The music, Checks and Love Letters by Bernice Lewis, is used by permission. 

A New Gel Plate

I just recently discovered this 12"x12" gel plate from Gel Press. I love the size, and also the tightness of the corners.

12"x12" Monoprint Collage#1

12"x12" Monoprint Collage #2

 Thanks for visiting!

Student Work from Gloucester

Last week I was teaching Monoprint Collage at Northeast Art Workshops in Gloucester, MA. I had a great group, who created some fabulous work. Here is a sampling.

Gorgeous papers made with a hand-cut stencil

a prolific palette of papers

Soft neutral colors

A grid format, with each element a different size

Hand-cut stencils and masks on the gel plate

Another bold grid format piece

Central Cluster format series, beautifully spare

Lines in Monoprint

I have been experimenting with ways of making line in monoprint techniques. Here is a video of it:

These are studies, starts, experiments, just to see what I can do with these processes. I am working on Cheap Drawing Paper (aka Blick's white sulphite drawing paper), with Golden OPEN acrylics.

Here are some of the results:

Deli paper line (trace monotype) with crayon resist line on gel plate

Same processes as above

Deli paper line with string mask line on gel plate

Deli paper line with crayon and gel print

The GelliArts site has loads and loads of tutorials on monoprints, and on using the gel plate with various media. 

More Black and White and a Giveaway

I made a few more papers using stencils with a sponge roller, but also with the GelliArts gel plate.  On these I used Golden Fluid Acrylics (Carbon Black and Titanium White), and also Golden OPEN Acrylics, which have a very long working time (they dry slowly).

Here are a few of the papers I made, using 9"x12" Cheap Drawing Paper:

In this I used a stencil I made myself with Cheap Drawing Paper.

For this I used OPEN acrylic, and made the lines using a Q-tip.

For this one I used a homemade gelatin plate, 8"x8", and then a stencil over it.

 The following two images are digital collages studies.  They don't exist in actual material.  I was fooling around in Photoshop, manipulating the scale of each of my papers as I put them together in these pieces.  As I am investigating the issue of scale, I am wondering if making either digital studies or small paper studies might be useful.  I've never worked from studies, so it's a new process for me.

I am offering a giveaway of the 14-product set of Golden's A - Z Workshop In A Box, to one person, chosen at random from those who comment on this post.  Please say something about working in black and white, and/or something about scale.  I'm interested in your ideas.  Identify yourself uniquely (i.e. "Mary in San Diego" rather than "Mary").  I will post the winner on Thursday, May 28.  It is the responsibility of the winner to get in touch with me.

Monoprint Collage At Pacific Northwest Art School

Here are a few pictures from the Monoprint Collage class at Pacific Northwest Art School in Coupeville, WA, on Whidbey Island.  In September I'll be back doing my Big Fat Art workshop, which is full, but you can get on the wait list.

Lucie's Works In Progress.  See her BLOG POST about this workshop.

Anca - one of MANY

Another of Anca's many pieces.

BJ's stripes.  These were a continuation of work BJ did in the Abstract Painting class, in which we used stripes as a format for exploring Series work.

One of Deborah's grid-based compositions.

Lucie's work table

One of Marilyn's grid-based pieces, in progress

Melanie's work table

One of Susan's grid-based monoprint collages

Another of Susan's

One of M's stacked shapes.

Another of M's pieces

One of Michelle's Vessel Series in progress

The theme of the four-day Abstract Painting workshop was "Series as Process".  This theme segued nicely into the two-day Monoprint Collage class.  The technique naturally lends itself to series work.

I was thinking that next year at PNWAS,  the four-day workshop, starting on May 31, could be "Gel Plate Monoprint: Series as Starting Point", and the two-day might be a workshop on using Yupo with India ink and mixed media.  Your thoughts?

My next workshop this year is at the Omega Institute, the week of July 6 - 11.  Register here, see more information here.  See a video here.  Thanks for visiting!

Gel Plate and Open Acrylics Winner

The winner is Robin Broitman!  Congratulations, Robin.  Now it is your job to e-mail me with your shipping/mailing address so I can send you the goodies.  THANKS TO ALL OF YOU for your comments, your enthusiasm, and for joining in the conversation.  All the attention has gone to Amelia's head, and she is strutting around like a rooster.  I'm sure there are more collaborations in our future.  Here is a picture of her:

And this is one of the prints finished, I think:

This is the preliminary version of the piece above.

Thanks again for your participation in this giveaway.  We will be using gel plate techniques in the following upcoming workshops:

• Stencils and Masks in Kansas City, March 21
• Monoprint Collage in Portland, OR, April 11
• Monoprint Collage in Coupeville, WA (Whidbey Island), May 9 - 10

And more after that.  See my full 2014 schedule of workshops.  I am not currently offering workshops on chicken art, but maybe Amelia will at some point.

"Open" Acrylics on the Gel Plate and GIVEAWAY

Many of you have worked with the GelliArts gel printing plate, and dozens of technique demonstrations are available on the GelliArts blog and elsewhere.  I don't have anything new to show you in terms of techniques.  However, I do want to show you how Golden Open Acrylics work so well with the gel plate.  They remain wet and workable for WAY longer than other acrylics, so they are ideal for gel printing, giving you time to think about and develop each print pull.

You can mix the Open acrylics with regular acrylics or acrylic mediums, and that will speed up the drying time;  for example, mix Open Manganese Blue Hue with Fluid or Heavy Body Manganese Blue Hue, and you will get a paint that dries faster than Open, but slower than regular, and at full pigment strength.  Or mix Open paint with regular matte medium or gel, and the result will dry faster than Open, and be somewhat extended (diluted).

This is the preliminary print, 10"x10".

This is the piece more developed, not sure if it is finished yet.

The preliminary print, 10"x10"

The same piece, developed further

This is a 12"x12" preliminary print.

... and the same piece with collage and paint, still in process.

 

The next three images are preliminary prints with no collage or paint added.

 

10"x10"

12"x12"

12"x12"

Here are my collateral collage sheets:

And Amelia's works in progress:

Amelia's fine chicken prints

Amelia's monoprint in Manganese Blue Hue

I will be giving away a 6"x6" GelliArts gel plate, along with a few sample Golden Open Acrylics, to a random person who comments on this post.  You must be in the United States to be eligible for the drawing (ALL of the United States).  I will do the GIVEAWAY on Monday, January 13, so check back to see if you won!

WIN THIS!! (plus some paint)

PS:  if you choose to post any of these images elsewhere, please label them as works in progress.  Thanks.