Sunday’s gel plate class 2 and the creative response!

Three people met me in the studio yesterday for an afternoon dedicated to exploring their playful and creative natures. Inspiring and filled with spring’s freshness.

We started with sharing to see where we all were and where we wanted to go. It was clear getting into the flow was the place to start so we began with a mindful mark making practice.

Using a limited palette of black and white inks and paints on craft paper we explored our marks. Our implements were sticks (thick and thin) and pipe cleaners (thanks Sammy!) along with some markers and pencils, a few black oil pastels. 

This practice brought a kind of peaceful attention helping us forget our judgements towards our work. There was nothing about making a “good and finished” piece of art.

With the second practice we used old gel prints painted over by gesso, continuing the mark making while also responding to the previous work. Interesting how different this was.

We then took this to a whole new level by playing musical art chairs! This meant moving from our own painting to our neighbor’s, adding our marks and responses to their work and then moving on to the next piece. What a hoot with many unexpected surprises - all happily accepted!

From there we did go to gel plate printing, stencils at first and then finally exploring the magic of successful (at least most of the time!) image transfer. See all below. 

Feeling grateful for this group.

1. Initial ink drawings:

Sammy’s

Marjorie’s

Amelia’s

Susan’s

2. Shared works on previous prints:

Sammy’s

Marjorie’s 

Amelia’s

Susan’s

3. Gel prints with stencils, the image transfers last.

Sammy’s:

Marjorie”s

Amelia’s

 

My experiences with layering

With each of these classes questions come about layering so I decided to put together some steps here that I take to create layers. This is just one way. I have several and I feel that it’s a unique process for everyone. My experience is that we all experience layers differently, so we all make them differently. 

What are your ways to create layering, either as an illusion or an actual layering of materials? Curious, right?!

There are 6 layers in this piece. I’ll give brief descriptions of each. The main process uses contrast, either with value or color saturation or a difference in pattern (stencil shapes).

1. First (base) layer on 110 pound card stock using a very saturated (though transparent) medium yellow, which also picked up previous paint, so in effect two layers. 

2. Second layer using a loose grid stencil with a yellow green, mixed with black and acrylic glazing fluid making it unsaturated and a bit transparent.

3. Third layer uses a different stencil (graffiti like) with reddish paint, unsaturated with some black and a bit transparent. Pretty undefined so more to go.

4. Fourth layer uses a circle stencil in the center with a more saturated turquoise mixed with a very small amount of black, green gold and glazing fluid so a bit transparent. Now things are beginning to define.

5.Fifth step using three vertical and straight strip stencils (a different form than the earlier circle) with thin layer of white. Looking at this now I do not know HOW it happened! So funny! But I knew I wanted to clarify it some. So on to the next step.

6. Final layer using same strip stencils and a more opaque and saturated turquoise to create more contrast with the white. Still not sure what happened! There’s always a bit of that - surprises that defy analyzing. And maybe there’s more to go though I like it this way, moving in and out.

Inspiration, stencils and image transfers for last Saturday’s gel plate 2 class

 It was wonderful to see the return of two people for this next level of creative play. 

Below you’ll see their pieces featuring a deeper dive into layering using stencils, free flow play painting and then image transfer. They quickly understood how the layering worked, creating depth in the prints with several layers. Check out what happened below. Exciting.

Then we moved with free flow paintings on cheap craft paper as a transitioning step into the next project of image transfer. I am always impressed by what happens in this step. It is a very daring move to simply drop techniques, play and allow what comes with the materials. 

Then image transfer time. This technique is very unpredictable with all the many variables: the kind of ink of the magazine or book page we’re working with to the kind and amount of paint, to the amount of hand pressure and then the length of time as we let the page sit on the painted gel plate as we transfer the image onto the plate. And then there is the variable with the next step, of actually printing the transfer onto paper!

As you can see, they both made it work with some clear transfers. Triumph!

Below are Michele’s pieces starting with the stencils, free flow painting and then image transfers.

Then moving to Jim’s pieces, same order of exploring layering with stencils, then free flow and finally his image transfers.