Now that winter is setting in, I’m ready to get back to my print-making experiments. My next project is to make positive and negative prints with my hand-carved linoleum blocks. (If you missed the articles on carving your own stamps from linoleum blocks, click over to the blog and search on “linoleum”.)
Before we jump right into making prints, I want to take time out to tell you about a really cool tool – a gelatin plate. You heard me right, I said a gelatin plate (and that’s gelatin – not Jello!) A gelatin plate is the perfect tool for reversing an image. If you’ve never played with gelatin printing, you will just have to trust me. It’s a lot of fun, and they really come in handy.
You can easily make a gelatin plate with unflavored gelatin, or you can purchase a permanent plate. Let’s start by making one so we can try out the process.
Make Your Own Gelatin Plate…
Ingredients: You need one box (4 envelopes) of Knox® Unflavored Gelatin, some water and an 8″ square cake pan (or something similar).
To make the gelatin, pour one cup of cold water into an 8″ square pan. Add all the contents of all four envelopes from the Knox® gelatin box into the pan. Stir until partially dissolved. Add one cup of very hot water to the pan. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Refrigerate the pan until the gelatin is set.
See? It’s easy! Next week, I’ll be sharing the first of my gelatin printing experiments. If you want to play along with me, pick up a package of unflavored gelatin when you do your grocery shopping. You’re much more likely to jump into the fun if you don’t have to run to the store.
Buy A Permanent Gel Plate
I recommend that you make a gel plate the first time you do gelatin printing. If you like it, great. If not, you haven’t purchased yet another tool that takes up space in your studio.
On the flip side, you may fall in love with the gelatin printing process, but dislike the time element of making the plates (or storing them in the refrigerator while keeping the family from trying out the funny-looking dessert). In this case, consider buying a permanent gel plate from Gelli Arts.
The Gelli Arts plates are made from mineral oil, and they’re ready when you are. That makes me very happy! The plates come in 3 sizes: 6″ x 6″ ($20), 8″ x 10″ ($30) and a really big 12″ x 14″ ($65).
We don’t sell the Gelli Plates in our Online Store, but they are easy to find online if your local retailers don’t carry them. Just check your favorite fabric art supply sites, search on Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate or go directly to GelliArts.com.
Check back next week for the first installment of my gel printing experiments. I’m going to make good use of my linoleum blocks. You’re welcome to join the fun. See you then!
Is a 10″ square pan alright for a gelatin surface? I agree with you, on making my first one to see if I like it.
Sure, Marlene. The plate will simply be thinner. You may see ‘wear and tear’ sooner with a thinner plate, but it should work just fine.
I just finished doing the gelatin process with the knox gelatin. It is so much fun, I do however recommend that when you put it in the fridge you keep it towards the front otherwise you may end up with ice crystals. Use a brayer to put the paint on after you take it out of the pan and then add THINGS, such as rubber bands, string,etc put your fabric on top and print. then remove the items and print again. You then have a positive and negative image. Have fun!!!Interweave store has a great dvd on the subject, you can even get just the download so you have it instantly.
That’s a great idea, Margaret. I had not thought about just dropping misc stuff on the plate and making prints.
By the way, when you get a note from the blog that says a comment is ‘waiting for moderation’ it’s not because you have done anything wrong. We monitor the posts on the blog to keep ahead of the spammers — and that’s a job in itself…
So funny this is what was on your webpage today, I just ordered that plate and hope to experiment lots his winter.
I made one with the knox gelatin, and was so excited about it. But the time flew by in the summer and I never go to it before it molded. So I like messy things, inks ,acrylics, paper,cloth, you name it . So as soon as it arrives that will be my focus for awhile. Thanks. beverly
I LOVE your newsletter. Your wonderful writing style makes me want to stop what I’m doing and try out a new project!
Thanks, Pam. I’m so glad you enjoy the newsletter. If it makes you want to DO something, I know I’m doing my job. 🙂
Great blog post and great advice Shelly! Look forward to seeing some of your prints. Please feel free to post them to our FB page – we love seeing and sharing all the monoprinting ideas 🙂
Thanks, Nancy. I love my Gelli plates!
I have tried so many times to make this and it ALWAYS breaks trying to get it out of the pan. DO you have any tricks?
I learned to do this from my friend Susan Stein. She taught me to run a knife around the edge of the plate so that some air gets to the bottom and you’re not fighting the suction effect. Did you do that?
Love gelatin Printung. You can larger pieces by making the gelatin in a large cookie sheet that has the 1/2 sides/
Great point, Karen. I’ve done something similar. I have a 12″ round dish that I used. The resulting gel plate was thinner, but it worked just fine. I actually liked the round prints.