This weekend I enjoyed the monthly get-together with my local group of surface design pals, ArtsEtc. The plan of the day was to work with gelatin plate printing.

(For those not familiar with hand printing with a gelatin plate, it works like this: A very thin layer of paint is brayered across a flexible plate made of gelatin. The artist uses stencils or other methods of making marks in the paint, then the substrate being printed is pressed onto the plate by hand. It works on paper or fabric.)

Today’s activities would be experimentation for me in a couple of ways. First, I generally print with my homemade plate (shown above), but I decided to pull out my commercial plate and spend some time learning its characteristics and quirks. (Spoiler alert: I liked the results. Worked well.)

And I also limited my variables: Only 3 paint colors (brown burnt sienna, brown burnt umber plus black.) And I mixed up a few substrates: cotton muslin, a cotton blend bedsheet, brown kraft paper, (recycled from packaging material in a box I had received. The shipper used a LOT!) and a few sheets of tissue paper.

I have a purpose in mind. I am beginning my thoughts on a large work depicting a burned structure, depicting the loss that remains. So, I need some deep color to physically depict char and smoke, and to connote emotional depth.

Big goal. Simple working beginnings. How did it go?

This was my first print impression: a thin coat or burnt sienna on the bedsheet. Not exciting. And this is also the point where artmakers experimenting with hand monoprinting can be discouraged. It’s pale. It’s not very interesting. But it will be! The first hit is usually just a way to get a bit of color tone on the background. More will go on top. Most success in hand printing comes from building up layers.

Here’s the same piece with just a second hit on it. But on the second plate, I had roughly mixed together both burnt umber and a little black on the plate. It’s beginning to have some depth. This could be a good background piece, or I could add more.

This is tissue paper. It also began with just a thin burnt sienna tone like the fabric in my first picture. Now, in its third hit, I’ve added more deep color, and some interesting textures.

As I was spooning out black paint from my jar to the mixing surface, a bit dripped onto my printing plate. Well that added some energy! So I added more.

This is a print from the ghost of a hand-cut stencil. The stencil is designed to print so that the shapes in the “donut holes” are where the paint comes through. But, after printing that, a much more interesting image remains on the plate. This is the ghost. It is characterized by the linear outline of the hand cut shape, and a little interesting texture where the background of the whole stencil pulls away from the paint on the plate.

Here’s another ghost print.

And, for fun, I took that photo and added a transparent overly on it in Photoshop. This shows how I could go back on the actual fabric and change the look with transparent color. The two pieces shown side by side might end up being cut apart and used in different places in a large quilt. They are the same, but different, adding both unity and variety to the finished piece.

While I was in Photoshop I just tried a little composing, to see if these random pieces would work well together in a large composition. My gut says yes. Because the colors have been kept constant, the mix of patterns and substrates is still pleasing together.

I came home from the meeting with pieces I like and think I can use, and some great art gang camaraderie as a bonus. Great day.

. . . .

Two-Week Countdown: The DeLand-Area Studio Tour is March 2-3. You are cordially invited to visit my studio. Please visit the tour website for information and maps to studios or contact me if you need information. I’d love to say “hi!” in person.

For all the artmakers: Happy creating
For all the art lovers: Happy appreciating

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi

bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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