Printmaking with Gel Printing Plate

The ATC swap this month was Stripes and Spots, so I thought it would be a good excuse to try out my new gel printing plate from Gelli Arts.  Although not completely happy with the final ATCs, I enjoyed the process of the print and some of the effects achieved printing from the plate, especially as it was my first try.


Acrylic paint was applied to the thick sheet of gel and brayered over the surface.

Getting the correct amount of paint was tricky - the print is not good when there is too much paint and different brands of paint have different consistencies.

Using the straight edge of some mount board I lifted paint from the printing plate in stripes all the way across, placed some white card onto the plate then pressed lightly to transfer the paint to the card.

 

My first print from the gel plate! 

Once the yellow stripes were dry, I over printed in black through a spotty mask.  I love the texture from the paint and how the spots have stripes.

To create some more depth to the final ATCs I embossed some more spots using an embossing folder through an embossing machine.  I also lightly sanded the embossed areas to remove some of the paint.

I punched some circles of various sizes and strips of various widths out of black paper and card to embellish the ATCs.

Five ATCs for the swap, all very different from each other due to the nature of the printing and the positions of the stripes and spots.