If you’ve never heard of or used a Gelli Plate before, you should really start yesterday! 😂 They are SO MUCH FUN! And useful too!! You can be sure to see more Monoprinting tutorials on MMP in the future, because I used these bad boys a lot! 😂
Here’s a quick little tutorial/explanation on how to make a print on a sheet of clear acetate.
Currently I’m preparing to work on a new mixed media portrait and I wanted to figure out a way to add a specific design/texture. I had seen the design/texture being made on a Gelli plate on a video on Lucy’s Art and Craft YouTube channel, so I wanted to try and replicate it. The problem is is that my biggest plate is only a 8X10 and the paper I’ll be most likely using for the portrait is 11X15. So, what to do?
Then I thought about tracing the design/texture through projection, but I would need it to be transparent so that I could project it into the larger paper. (I don’t have an actual projector, so I end up making my own 😂 We ghetto do what we ghetto do here on MMP!) So then I start to wonder if you can even transfer an acrylic print onto acetate, which is a thin sheet of transparent plastic. And, like most plastics, it’s non porous and, well, plastic! 😂 So I wasn’t sure such a thing could be done. And when I’m not sure, I TEST IT!
Here’s a quick breakdown of what I did for this test run:
I crinkled a scrap piece of tissue paper onto my gelli plate that had a semi thin layer of acrylic paint on it, waited a couple of seconds, pulled it up, laid the acetate over top, waited a minute or so, then (impatiently of course 😂) pulled it up. That’s it!
Not only do I have the acetate print that I can project onto my bigger paper and trace over it and use as many times as I want, I also have a textured tissue print AND a shadow print for another print if I so choose! If that’s not three birds with one stone, idk what is! 😂
Hope this inspired someone else to give it a try!
Till next time MMP Fans!