A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Gelli Plate Results

Last night when I got home from work I realized I had left my gelli printed fabric at work.  What a shame, now I had to play some more.  I made these four prints.



To make these backgrounds I used the brayer to spread the paint on the gelli plate then made different textures using a comb, paint brush (both ends), and a variety of other odds and ends.  Gotta do it quickly before the paint dries. I used light colors because when I print I tend to go from light to dark and back to light.

Then I would position the fabric on part of the gelli plate. I wanted a variety of colors/shape/textures on the fabric so I would only place a corner or one edge of the fabric onto the plate.   To print I rub the fabric with my hand to transfer the paint.  I found I liked using my  hand better than using a dry brayer.   The brayer caused wrinkles but my  hand didn't. You can either get paint on your hand (which I sometimes decided to do) or you can place a piece of paper on the fabric before rubbing it since the paint does sometimes bleed through the fabric.

I found I could get a first strong print and a second ghost print using this method. That was really pretty cool because if I used only one corner of the gelli plate for a direct print on one piece of fabric, then I could used the top half of the gelli plate for a direct print and the bottom corner as a ghost print at the same time on my next piece of fabric--a two-fer.


I repeated this process till I was satisfied with a nice background (see above).

Now it is time to add the foreground.  Remember this is what I wanted the finished fabric to look like:
  1. Abstract compositions with planes of colors
  2. Strong horizon lines
  3. Complex layering achieved through texture and color
  4. A symbolic representation of "an individual" in each.
  5. The design/composition finished (or resolved) by printing or by stitch.
I made a mask out of card stock to represent my "individual" and then I repeated the same process I used in making the background but this time I used darker colors. I think two of the prints are ready for stitching.  The other two prints either need more layers going back to light colors or to be used in a collage.

These are the two I like and will start some stitching on them.



These are the two that I will stare at for a while and decide where to go next.



This post is linked to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays

6 comments:

  1. These are amazing! I love the layering!

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  2. I agree. These are really inspiring! Thanks for the process!

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  3. Now these results look familiar to me, my printing friend!!

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  4. What great fabrics to play with. Such possibilities!

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  5. I have done this and know that you never know how it will turn out. You have some really good print results.

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  6. Thanks for sharing these inspirational prints. I love the ideas of only printing part of the fabric each press, and having a focal individual to draw the eye in.

    I'm looking forward to getting my Gelli plate out and having another go, and maybe I'll invest in the large plate too (I have a 12x12 one)

    Thank you!

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