Studio Journal 2: Gelli plates
When I first saw some artists using Gelli plate on Instagram, I wasn’t interested. I was deep into watercolours back then and trying to upskill there. I was doing a lot of house portraits and watercolour exercises in my sketchbooks. But somewhere down the road, I felt the need for something more in my art practice. That’s when I decided to take the FYJ 2023 , a 10-week course taught by a UK artist, Louise Fletcher.
Sketchbook play time
The FYJ course was all about acrylics and mindset shifts for artists. This is when I finally gave my watercolours a rest and got back to acrylics. During this course, I saw how some artists used collage in their works. The only kind of collage I knew was tearing up a plain coloured sheet into several tiny bits and then sticking them into an outlined sketch which is sort of like colouring a picture with bits of paper. There’s nothing wrong with this style, but it didn't really appeal to me. Seeing this new way of using collages sparked an interest in me; I always loved cutting and sticking things as a child.
I also learned about the concept of play; experimenting with materials without any expectations. This was a new concept for me, as I always worked on an inspiration basis and towards a specific end result.
So I went ahead and bought a Gelli plate for myself. I had no expectations; hence playing was easy. I had too little control over the results, even though you can plan and do layers. I was simply winging it.
I also wanted to try collage in my work. I didn't have much collage material lying around. My home is a comparatively new household; we are still in the process of accumulating stuff, LOL! I could buy collage papers off Etsy or some other places but that idea didn't appeal to me. I wanted to know what kind of collage am I attracted to, and I can only find that out through doing a lot of collage. Gelli plate printing was a good starting point. Before I knew, there was a stack of collage fodder for me to play with!
Collage stash
Why did I do the two-week challenge?
I listen to a lot of art podcasts; I mean a lot! Almost every artist suggests that if you want to explore something, you need to double down on that specific thing for a specific amount of time. I tend to hop around from one thing to another as I quickly get bored. So creating a challenge around it was my only way to stick with it for a while.
The 14-day challenge was my way of doubling down and digging deep down to find out why I enjoy Gelli printing, and what about it I enjoy the most. It also helped me go into the art space every day for 2 weeks. Another added bonus was that I was able to post consistently on Instagram and create some engagement.
#14daysofgelliprintingandcollage
The prompts I set for myself were:
Limited palette prints
Layers and layers
Leaf printing
Stencils
Image Transfer
Posca Paint Pens
Print on Artists’ grade Tissue paper
Print onto a painted sketchbook spread
Print on scrap surfaces
Collage onto a magazine page
Minimal composition
Collage onto a wooden board or canvas, or both
Print on a piece of fabric
Make your partner do a Gelli print
The fun level oscillated, but the good thing was I showed up for 14 days straight. The daily prompts made me prepared and didn’t leave me clueless which was an awesome thing to learn about my process. I found out that eliminating decision fatigue is a crucial factor when it comes to my consistency in showing up.
Printed on Wet-strength tissues
My likes and dislikes about Gelli printing
After the challenge was over, I was left with a huge stash of Gelli plate prints. This was enough data for a self-inquiry.
What do I really like about this?
What aspects of it do I dislike?
Do I want to keep doing this?
Yes, I loved every minute of it! Because there was no pressure to create beautiful work. It was a way to let my hair down for a while while I get my hands dirty with paint. I used cheap paints for Kmart and ALDI and I was not at all precious about my work or end results.
Is Gelli plate printing going to be an important aspect of my work?
Well, I was hoping to, but can't say anything yet. I still haven’t found a way to incorporate Gelli prints into my work, which actually made me stuck for a while. But I learned a lot of other things about my process, that I like printed tissues and newsprints over the regular paper, that I love posca pen marks etc. I also found an interesting way to improve my composition skills. So, I wouldn’t consider it to be a complete waste of time, but rather a fun way of experimentation and an opportunity to understand the fact not everything needs to have an end result. That it is absolutely okay to do some things just for FUN!
Messing around for fun!
