Many uses for your Gelatin Prints

monotype print / /

Sometimes you pull a gelatin print and it is perfect in it’s simplicity. And it is ready to frame.

shaped impression gelatin plate monotype print

And then other times the monotype print becomes a background for a stencil or screen printed image.

Gelatin plate monotype with screen printed image

The “Love” print is a gelatin print background and a hand carved stamp for the love focus. The bird print is a thermofax screen print on top of a light blue gelatin print.

Add a dark focus to your gelatin prints

These 2 gelatin prints have a dark focus that was added after the gelatin printing process. The reindeer print shows how a delicate and detailed background can be the perfect surface for a bold shape.

The Lady Love print shows the brayered blocks of color and the beauty of simplicity that is possible with gelatin plate monotype process. The “love” was added with hand printing with old wooden type from the Museum of Printing.

Have you explored gelatin printmaking yet? Need a little help getting started? Consider the Gelatin Printmaking Workshop. It is a self study, online course to help you make the plate, find and create tools and guide you to printing with confidence.

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Day 30 of the #SEEdrawPrint challenge

relief prints / /

I did it! Whoa! It took some creativity and some commitment to the promise that I made to myself.

I must admit that today is another SEE and Print project. That is my big discovery that I am really attracted to processes that do not require the “draw” part of the process.

orphan type face for printing

I used some orphan type face that I recently purchased at the Museum of Printing. I held the wooden letters together with an elastic and printed it with speedball block printing inks.

Hand printed love block

I did print several copies and played with the spacing and position of the letters. I was not getting perfect impressions, so in the end I needed to embrace the imperfections.

hand printed Love panel

This monoprint was printed on paper and then mounted on to a 3″ square block. If you are a local reader. I will be at the Christmas Stroll on Saturday, at 90 Washington St, the Haverhill Art Market. And I am having a BIG studio sale. Hope to see you there.

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Peace to YOU day 29 of SEEdrawPrint

monotype print / /

Today I made a thermofax screen of the text, Peace to You. I was hoping to print on the back side of some ornaments that I am making.

thermofax screen by linda germain

The screen came out pretty clean and I was able to print clear images on paper, but when I tried to print on the felt the impression was inconsistent. I ended up pushing too much or too little ink through.

text printed with a thermofax screen

I did print a few ornaments hoping that I would get into a rhythm and could get a clear and consistent print but that did not happen so I will just let this idea go for now.

thermofax printed text by linda germain

I think the loft of the felt was too inconsistent and the need for the print to be perfect and readable. Sometimes things don’t work out and I have to keep trying new ideas. Just one more day of my #SEEdrawPrint challenge.

 

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Believe relief stamp for day 28 of #SEEdrawPrint

relief prints / /

Today I carved a tiny stamp – “Believe” I thought I might use it to add a little something to  some ornaments that I am working on. I had originally made a thermofax screen of the word, believe. I test printed it and could not get it to print consistently.

relief stamp by linda germain

The style of the mark may be too primitive to go with the style of the ornaments. But I was impressed that I could even carve such a small and detailed block.

reindeer ornament by linda germain

Is it nice to have the confidence to just jump in and make a block, screen or stencil when I want a new design to play with.

Tools for making relief block

I say give it a try! Just jump in and make the printmaking matrix that you need, be it a screen, a drawing, relief block or a stencil. You can do it!

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Queen Anne’s Lace monoprint

relief prints / /

Today, for day 27 of the #SEEdrawprint challenge, I picked up some dried Queen Anne’s lace on my walk and did a wax rubbing monoprint.

queen annes lace for a monoprint

These flowers were quite dried and brittle. I tried to flatten the branches to separate them and make an interesting print.

wax rubbing monoprint of flower

I used a wide black crayon to make the monoprint on rice paper. I like the quick and experimental nature of this process. Again I am realizing that I like to skip the “draw” part of the process and find ways to print without having to draw to make prints.

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