Can’t. Stop. Gelatin. Printing.

Someone needs to come and physically stop me from gelatin printing. I am completely addicted. Send help!  Or maybe just more paint!  😉

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Gelatin Printing with Magazines

I made some more gelatin prints with magazines using Birgit Koopsen’s fabulous magazine technique, which I previously blogged about (and posted her video tutorial HERE). Anyway, I made some new ones this week and hung them up on my inspiration wall:

I love how the printing process starts to abstract and break down the perfectly formed image. The hot pink print in the upper left corner is the ghost of the green print in the center.  And I think you can tell that the other three face prints were all made from the same image.  Believe it or not, the orange one is actually the first print, then the baby pink, and finally  the yellow and pink one that’s cropped at the top.

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What I Learned

Some things that have worked for me in this process:

• Modern fashion magazines have worked the best.  These images are all from Marie Claire.
• How much paint you use in each layer is a huge part of the success of your print.  It’s a real Goldilocks process balancing out what’s too little and what’s too much.
• I’ve had better luck with artist quality paints than with cheapo paints.
• You can use any color for the first layer as long as your second color is a strong enough contrast.

P.S. There are actually several examples of printing in this photo, besides the gelatin prints! Let me break it down for you:

I keep saying that some day I should teach a class that covers all of the myriad types of printing out there.  It’s such a fascinating and endlessly huge world of art fun!

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Gelatin Printing Oil Pastel Resist

I also tried out this resist technique from Marsha Valk:

As you saw from the video, it’s all about using a crayon/oil pastel/china marker as a gelatin plate resist. Here’s what I ended up with:

Aren’t those fun?  It’s almost the same as the magazine technique, but you use your own drawing.

Here’s a 30-second video of me doing this technique:

If you can’t see the video, click here.

FYI: I’m actually using two different brands of gelatin plates (Gelli Arts and Gel Press) in this video and I didn’t notice any difference in performance.

What’s your favorite gelatin printing technique?  Leave me a link or just describe it.  I’d love to know!

Thanks for stopping by!