Whenever I am at my local big box store, I always check to see if they have glycerin in stock. And if they do I buy a couple of bottles.
With pandemic many folks are using glycerin to make hand sanitizer, so it can be challenging to find.
1 – Make a long lasting gelatin plate
I use 2 bottles of glycerin to make the homemade gelatin plate. This is a malleable printing plate that is great for making monotypes with out a printing press.
You can get the FREE recipe and make your own printing plate here. With some time and playful practice you will be making your own beautiful monotype prints.
2 – Use glycerin to preserve botanicals
I use a lot of leaves and ferns as masking stencils. Some of these materials I have had for years because I preserved them in a glycerin and water bath.
Leaves and ferns can last for years and be used to make lovely monotype impressions. Try it! Get some instructions here.
3 – Use glycerin as a retarder with Speedball Water based block printing ink
For some reason retarder is a little bit expensive and only sold in smaller tubes. But luckily one of my students told me that a few drops of glycerin can be used to slow the drying time of the Speedball water based inks.
I use it for this purpose when I make trace monotype prints. I works nicely to keep the ink alive and workable.
If you are interested in learning more about printmaking without a press, then check out the current online classes.