Gelatin play day with friends! Gelatin monoprints are a form of printmaking that requires no press and uses water-based inks. The printing plates are made from gelatin. Inks are applied to the gelatin plate, design elements are added and then the print paper is pressed onto the plate and smoothed out with the hand. The finished product is considered a monoprint but it is possible to print a second or even third image. Prints can also be layered. It is not complicated, creative, inexpensive, and very easy to clean up.
Making Your Own Gelatin Plate:
1) Use a glass, plastic, or metal pan with a smooth bottom, non-porous bottom. My favorite is a Pyrex pan 7 by 5 inches with a plastic lid. You don't want this to be too large, especially is you are a book artist.
2) Place the pan on a level surface and fill with cold water to the depth of 3/4 to 1 inch. Pour the water into a measuring cup to determine the amount of water you used.
3) Determine the amount of gelatin. For each cup of water you measured you will need 2 envelopes of Knox gelatin or 2 TBS good quality gelatin.
4) Pour half of the water into the pan and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let it swell until it looks like applesauce. Stir gently.
5) Boil the rest of the water and add to the gelatin applesauce. Stir slowly until the gelatin is dissolved.
6) Gently drag a paper towel or piece of paper across the top of the gelatin to remove bubbles.
7) Leave the gelatin pan on the table until it starts to set and then move it to the refrigerator until solid.
8) To use the plate, gently pull the gelatin away from the sides of the pan with your fingers. I had to use a thin spatula to help me release it from the pan. Place it on a movable smooth surface, like a cookie sheet or glass.
Applying the ink
We used Speedball water soluble printmaking ink and a soft, black foam, 4 inch brayer. Ink was rolled onto glass plates to coat the brayer and then gently applied to the gelatin surface. We rolled on multiple colors and created texture and design with various objects. We also created interesting images using leaves, stencils, string, bubble wrap, crumbled plastic wrap, lace, etc. You can rinse off the plate under the sink or just roll more ink over the previous inks. Make sure that you DO NOT ALLOW GELATIN TO GO DOWN THE DRAIN. IT CAN PLUG THE DRAIN!
First Designs
1) Leaves on inked gelatin plate, string added after photo was taken.
2) This is the first print on drawing paper. Since the leaves remained on the gelatin plate, they blocked the ink from transferring to the paper, resulting in a negative print.
3) For the second print the leaves and string were removed. No additional inking was done; when the leaves were removed their imprint remained in the the original ink. The result was a delicate positive print.
Second Designs
1) After applying ink to the plate, lines were gently drawn across the plate with a smooth paint palette. A pear shape was cut from a paper rectangle of freezer paper. Then the paper rectangle was placed on the inked plate. Art paper was then pressed over the stencil resulting in a negative print.
2) The stencil was removed from the plate, no additional ink was added and art paper pressed on the plate resulting in a positive print.
Third Design
Black ink was applied to the plate and I used a smooth paint palette to gently draw the design on the gelatin plate. Paper was then applied! Finger-painting worked also!
For more detail on the above, please use the following links:
1) Making gelatin plates, printing, and making an accordion fold book:
Mary Taylor Art
2) Sites or blogs with examples of wonderful gelatin prints:
Artistic Dreamer
Linda Germain
1) Use a glass, plastic, or metal pan with a smooth bottom, non-porous bottom. My favorite is a Pyrex pan 7 by 5 inches with a plastic lid. You don't want this to be too large, especially is you are a book artist.
2) Place the pan on a level surface and fill with cold water to the depth of 3/4 to 1 inch. Pour the water into a measuring cup to determine the amount of water you used.
3) Determine the amount of gelatin. For each cup of water you measured you will need 2 envelopes of Knox gelatin or 2 TBS good quality gelatin.
4) Pour half of the water into the pan and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let it swell until it looks like applesauce. Stir gently.
5) Boil the rest of the water and add to the gelatin applesauce. Stir slowly until the gelatin is dissolved.
6) Gently drag a paper towel or piece of paper across the top of the gelatin to remove bubbles.
7) Leave the gelatin pan on the table until it starts to set and then move it to the refrigerator until solid.
8) To use the plate, gently pull the gelatin away from the sides of the pan with your fingers. I had to use a thin spatula to help me release it from the pan. Place it on a movable smooth surface, like a cookie sheet or glass.
Applying the ink
1) Leaves on inked gelatin plate, string added after photo was taken.
1) After applying ink to the plate, lines were gently drawn across the plate with a smooth paint palette. A pear shape was cut from a paper rectangle of freezer paper. Then the paper rectangle was placed on the inked plate. Art paper was then pressed over the stencil resulting in a negative print.
Black ink was applied to the plate and I used a smooth paint palette to gently draw the design on the gelatin plate. Paper was then applied! Finger-painting worked also!
For more detail on the above, please use the following links:
1) Making gelatin plates, printing, and making an accordion fold book:
Mary Taylor Art
2) Sites or blogs with examples of wonderful gelatin prints:
Artistic Dreamer
Linda Germain
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