ArtyStART Monday: Takin’ on the Gelli’s

Gelli Printing finished lovelies. Yep, it was kind of addictive. I made these in no time flat. It’s a fun product for monoprinting.

So… I picked up one of these awhile back. Intrigued by the possibilities of creating patterned backgrounds on the fly, I thought, hmmm…. why not. So, here’s how it all went down. I was cleaning the studio and before I could get it cleaned I was whipping up another mess and giving the Gelli a GO!

The disclaimer deets: Nope, I don’t work for Gelli Arts. I’m just a chick who wanted to try out the product and here are my first time out results.

Here’s the set up. I picked up a cheapo baking sheet to put the Gelli Plate in… trying to contain the mess a bit. Also, the directions suggest putting it on a craft mat or flat surface and also using the original packaging to store it back in. I thought the baking sheet would be ideal. I gathered up a few stamps, stencils and paint to give it a go. You also need a brayer  to spread the acrylic paint around on the gelli plate.

Now, is the beginning of the FIRST FAIL! I put some acrylic paint on the gelli plate. TOO MUCH. That little glob there proved to be WAY TOO much paint. I just kept going. I put some stencils into the paint gently to “impress” into the paint.

Then, I laid paper over top and pulled the first print. Some of the copic airbrushing ink came off one of the stencils. Happy mistake.

FAIL! Too globby. Too much paint. Can’t see the detail of the stencils and stamps I “impressed” into the paint. So, I pulled another print. Called the ghost print. Sort of like “stamping off.” Once you’ve pulled the print once, put another piece of paper over it and do it again. You get a two fer. Two for one print action.

This time: MAGICAL! Not too shabby.

So, armed with a bit more knowledge… I gave it another go! This time, I switched out the colors and wanted to “draw” something into the gelli plate. Using an embossing stylus (round ball tip), I wrote the word SHE. DON’T us a PENCIL, or any other kind of blunt object. The gelli plate is, well, JELLY-LIKE and you can puncture it.

Then, I had a DUH moment!

When you pull the print, the word will be in REVERSE if you write it out like you normally would. DUH! So, I gave it another go! Added paint, spread it out with a brayer and wrote the word SHE BACKWARDS. Pulled two prints without adding more paint, LOVED the second one. Decided it was a keeper.

So, I took these two prints, scanned them, and set them up to digimix mash them into something else on the computer. Using, PhotoShop and another piece I created on another art journal page, I mashed them together to create a NEW piece of art.

This is the final result coming out of the printer. I did jackup the hue and saturation a bit in Photoshop to create some new tints. The final 8×10 print. LURVE IT!

I thought these would make great cards to send to some of the SHE’s in my life. So, I set them 4-up in PhotoShop to make a card layer. My first print was on CANVAS paper.

The paper print is on the left. I ended up printing three sheets. I have a lot of SHE’s that could use a card with this message right now.

Gelli Plate = Addictive

I see myself using it to create backgrounds that I can scan/photograph, digitize and manipulate. I also see me using it a lot to create the backgrounds for my line art illustrations. When patterning my art, I need various digital backgrounds to create color and cohesion in the work. This tool will help me build some more backgrounds that are unique.

Here’s the Gelli Arts website for reference. Check out their videos. They have a lot of fabulous ideas. Check out their blog too. Fabulous ideas to push the gelli out of the comfort zone.

Here are two of my favorite Gelli Chicks. There are so many bookmarked. Just a simple google of GELLI  or a visit to Pinterest will blow up your computer with inspiration.

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, she’s even got an online class to learn all about the Gelli

Robin-Marie Smith. This chick is amazingsauce.

Shabby Cottage Studio. She does amazing gelli prints on fabric.

Fellow Marylander, Patti Parrish, She’s a Gelli print making machine.

Here’s a little something I’m going to try next.

If you want to have a little fun… by all means get GELLI’fied.