The Prints

Here are a few of the Gelli prints I made this week -- I'll post more next week sometime.  The first print is my replication of the technique Gelli Arts uses as a demo.  This is three separate prints registered on the paper, and what you see above is the ghost print.

The same print as above, photoshopped.  This is the only one I photoshopped, although clearly the digital possibilities are endless.

Some of this week's prints were done on recycled book pages.  As I've been removing book blocks from old books, if I like the paper I'll save as much of it as I can.  Individual folios in the case of smaller books, as here.  This paper is heavy newsprint -- nice texture and weight.

Sometimes a single print is good enough for me, like the print below.  Sometimes I'm over printing up to four times with different plates.  Sometimes I like the end result, often I don't.  No worries.

Usually I prefer the ghost print, as above, to the first print.  I've been experimenting with the amount of paint on the plate, too, so often the first print is more ghost-like to begin with.   Saves paint and paper, too.

I purchased one Catalyst wedge recently (from Dick Blick) -- it's the one with the graduated notches, above.  It's not necessary to purchase them, though...those spackle spreaders they sell at the hardware store will work just fine.  I wanted another option, though, so sprung for one of the wedges since everybody raves about them.  By and large they're way too pricy for me for the amount of use they'd get.

This is the first (above) and ghost (below) prints made with a glass and some corrugated cardboard.  Anything that makes an impression will work.  I used rubbing plates, rubber stamps (commercial and hand carved out of various materials), household objects, stencils and anything else I could think of.  Some things were more successful than others.

As with everything surface design that I do, I am most drawn to circles, grids and lines.