Bess - Gelli plate printing: mixed-media monoprinting without a press

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To John, my wonderful husbandfor being there for me with constant love, support and encouragement, all along the way.

The Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate is a unique and ideal surface for monoprinting without a press. And like any studio tool, there are a few basic things to know to keep it in good condition.

• The gel printing plate is made of a unique plastic that contains mineral oil. It will leach a small amount of harmless mineral oil when left sitting on an absorbent surface, so its important to protect your work surface with a flat, smooth, nonporous barrier such as a piece of glass or acrylic, a Teflon craft sheet or a baking sheet.
• To keep the plate in place while printing, place the Gelli plate on a piece of paper thats taped to the barrier sheet with painters tape.
• Acrylic paints are recommended. The Gelli plate can take on a tint or stain from paint or ink, but it wont affect your prints. If desired, the stain can be removed by wiping the plate with baby oil. Then wash the plate with dish soap, rinse and pat it dry with a paper towel. This is also the recommended clean-up whenever you use oil-based paint or inks on the Gelli plate. And its the best way to remove pencil marks and newspaper inks, which can transfer to the plate.
• Do not use glossy paper, especially glossy photo paper, to pull prints. It can stick to and damage the surface of the Gelli plate.
• Its not necessary to clean the plate between prints. In fact, paint remaining on the plate between prints can be pulled up on the next print, yielding the most exciting and unpredictable results. However, it is recommended to clean the plate before storing. You can store your Gelli plate in the plastic case it came in.

Visit gelliarts.com to check out the different sizes of Gelli plates available!

After pulling a print, areas of wet paint may remain on the plate. Quickly pull another print to remove residual paint from the plate.

Keep a spray bottle nearby. If you spritz the plate with water immediately after printing, the paint wipes off easily! If desired, take the plate to the sink and wash it with dish soap, rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.

Use a paper towel to wipe the plate clean. For stubborn paint, apply gel hand sanitizer, then wipe with a paper towel.

Something exhilarating happened when I started monoprinting on gelatin plates several years agosheer FUN! Winging it with an experimental attitude, playing with paint, color, texture, and moving at a fast pace! Grabbing every textured surface in sight and smooshing it into the painted plate. The adrenaline rush when pulling each print off the plate! And in no timea stack of amazing prints! Everything about this printing process was magical ... except the gelatin. Ugh! In my experienceit turned mushy, fell apart, got moldy, and took up too much space in the refrigerator. Worse yetnot always having a plate ready when I wanted to print was, for me, an annoying creativity killer.

It was a small leap from thinking about the concept of a nonperishable gel plate to becoming obsessed with having one. After looking around and learning there was no such thing available, I ran the product idea past my friend Lou Ann Gleason. Understand, Lou Ann is a career businesswoman with an impressive Fortune 100 rsum that does not include making art. So when she came to my studio and had a total blast creating prints on a gelatin plate, we knew we were on to something.

As a result of that eventful day of studio play, we joined forces, formed Gelli Arts and went to work. After a year-long journey to produce our dream printing plate, we hit the ground running by introducing to the world a new, convenient and exciting monoprinting experience. Thanks to our social media expert, Nancy Kelley, word travelled quickly across the Internet. And the world responded! Gelli printing has taken the art and craft world by storm. Across all corners of the globeartists and crafters, teachers and students, men and women, seniors and children are taking brayer in hand, rolling out acrylic paint, making their marks and pulling incredible prints. Its easy, fun and totally addicting!

If youre experienced in monoprinting, youre sure to find techniques in this book that will send you off in new directions. If you havent tried Gelli printing yet, this book will guide you through the basics and give you the confidence to give it a go and get you hooked!

After a brief overview of materials and a few tips, youll be ready for printing. Theres no special sequence, so you can skip around the techniques. The learning curve isnt steep, but it does take some practice to get the feel for how much paint to use ... and how different paints work for you. The discovery process is part of the fun.

Have no fear! Youll make tons of prints. The good, the bad and the ugly. Gelli printing is adventurous and experimental. And there are no mistakes. If you dont like a print, just add another layer right over it! The thrill of pulling a print is hard to describe. But the joyful aha! moment visible on the faces of people as they pull prints tells the story!

One of the fascinating aspects of Gelli printing is incorporating found textures. And youll start finding them everywhere! Before you know it, youll catch yourself looking at an ordinary object and saying to yourself, Thatll make such a cool print! Things like textured wheels on toy cars, patterned bottoms of flip-flops, a crumpled piece of waxed paper ... all will grab your attention. Youll look at commonplace things with fresh eyes. Suddenly, nothing is safe from paint!