Build your design skills – gelatin printmaking

Gelatin plate print, masking stencils, techniques, tools / /

Gelatin printmaking is fast and gives you immediate feedback about composition and design skills. That is one reason that I love the process.

gelatin prints by linda germain

Art school teaches us to make thumbnail drawings and plan our composition first. I just don’t have the patience for that approach.

Gelatin plate prints by Linda Germain

I like the trial and error approach of making lots of prints. And over time my design skills have grown and I had fun in the process. And I want to share that approach and what I have learned with you in the online printmaking workshops.

Gel monotype print by Linda Germain

We will create growth and success by:

  • Getting to know your masking stencils and how to get strong impressions
  • Limiting the colors so we can create prints with a strong range of value
  • Using a small standard size paper to get a dynamic division of space

These boundaries will give you the structure to support new understanding of the tools and how the impressions are created. This should create success and happiness!

Make gelatin prints

I hope you will check out the online printmaking classes.

Gelatin Monotype print

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The woods as my inspiration

handmade books, mixed media printmaking, stencils / /

I have been taking daily walks in the woods by the lake. I take photos but they don’t really capture the connection that I feel.

brown bag book cover

Yesterday, I decided to play with printing trees with torn paper stencils and the gelatin plate. Torn paper has a wonderful ragged and organic edge.

torn paper stencils for gelatin printmaking

I wanted to create an abstract and somewhat natural feel to the printed woods scapes.

gelatin plate monotype prints

I experimented with speedball water based block printing ink and a little bit of acrylic. The first impression gave me the very dark background with white tree shapes. The second impression produced lovely light spot trees, similar to a birch tree.

mixed media gel plate print

I was having fun, but I wanted to create more  range of value and some darker tree shapes. The printing session was a bit up and down with being pleased with the prints and being frustrated. That is usual for me.

accordion book of gelatin prints by linda germain

I printed a second day and was pleased with some of the prints. I glued several into an accordion book and then did some collage and doodling.

concertina style book of gelatin monotype prints by linda germain

Even though they are just torn paper stencils, I think I will save them for another day of printing.

Check out current classes.

Happy Printing!

book by linda germain

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Play with Printmaking

inspiration, mark making tools, tools / /

Things can get serious. So that is why I routinely remind myself to put some play back into my printmaking.

Mock xray cyanotype gel print

Sometimes I get hung up on results, process or materials.

tiny eraser stamps

To get a lighter fresh approach I:

  • Try a new technique – tiny eraser stamps above
  • Use simple or new tool – rusted paper below
  • Use my ten pieces of paper idea

If you have a child or grandchild to print with that can be a great way to loosen up and play.

make art with kids

It takes time to really let yourself get into the play mode. Sometimes I need to make a mess and a bunch of ugly prints along the way.

experimental prints can be ugly

Yet, in the end something new usually emerges.

patterned papers

hand made artist book

I hope I have encouraged you to put some play into your printmaking today. Enjoy!

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Scraps collage – so much fun!

altered books, artist book, book arts / /

One way to get your creative juices flowing and quiet the inner critic is to work on several small pieces at once.

scraps collage linda germain

Another way to keep the creativity flowing to to layer and respond with minimal marks.

layered collage linda germain

I did these scraps collages with bits and pieces of book pages and part in my online class, Books as ART Materials.

tiny collage of book parts

I approach the project with an attitude of playful discovery. I work up about 12 4″ square pieces in layers.

paper collage by linda germain

Sometimes a get a few striking collages. But I am always developing my design and composition skills.

12 tiny collages with book parts

Give it a try at the end of the day, gather the bits of waste from your work bench, add scribbles, text or coffee stains and see what happens.

If you would like to explore using Books as ART Materials, then join us in the upcoming class. Read all the details on the workshop page.

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Found Poems

artist book, book arts, collage / /

I am getting ready for the Books as ART Materials class and having fun making found poems.

found poems

Books are mostly words and pages, so I like to find ways to use those elements in new art work.

found poem by linda germain

I like to:

  • Cut words and phrases out of several different books, with different font sizes
  • Then rearrange the words into a 4  line poem
  • Some poems I really love
  • And some are just part of the process of making

collaged poem

I also use old book pages at scrap to catch excess glue from the glue stick.

collage poem by linda germain

Give this meditative poem making a try! 

If you want to explore more ways to use old books, then join us in Books As ART Materials, the online class. Read the details here.

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