Gel Monotypes

Some artists can stay focused on one medium and produce a body of work in that single medium. Some artists bounce around from one medium to another, focusing on one for a bit, then discovering a new technique that looks interesting and jumping ship to experiment with that medium, shooting off in a whole new direction for a bit - until something else comes along to bend that focus again! I bet you can guess which kind of artist I am... especially if you visited during the Philomath Open Studio Tour.

By the way, if you did come to see us during the tour, Thank You So Much! It was terrific seeing so many people out braving the weather and enjoying the adventure of exploring the backroads of Philomath and finding new artists and studios to discover! 

Yes, I am a pastel and watercolor artist, but I also like to knit, make beaded earrings and necklaces, and recently learned how to make my own gel plate for printmaking. These are one-of-a-kind prints - made by placing acrylic paint and printers ink onto the gel plate, manipulating that paint, then placing paper on top to make a print. That image is left to dry, then more paint or ink is added using a brayer, or squeegee or paint brush and then another print is made on top of the previous image. 

I LOVE the texture and mottled colors that result from this technique, and have been playing and producing Monotypes these past couple of weeks using this gel plate. Here are some photos of that process:

This first photo shows the gel plate, clean and ready to be used. 

Here it has paint added on top after some brayer manipulation. 

More brayer action. 

Pressing the paper on top making the first background print.

These are some of my finished prints that have been created with the gel plate and some added brushwork to complete each design. Several are now available on my Etsy site  and here's one below that you can purchase right here:

Crow 2

5x7 inches

Acrylic on paper

$25 + $3 shipping

Below is how it looks on the paper. This is how it'll arrive, ready to be framed.

This shows a close up of that delicious texture: 

If you have any questions about this piece or the technique, go ahead and ask using the comments link below.