Mixed Media Gel Plate Print with Colored Pencil

This is a post from Belinda Del Pesco’s Art Blog Belinda Del Pesco.

Mixed Media Gel Plate Print with Colored Pencil

This art was the result of a fun session creating a Mixed Media Gel Plate Print with Colored Pencil over a botanical print and magazine transfer combination. I know – a mouthful. But it was quick and satisfying. Read on…

Gel Plate Botanical Printmaking

First, I took a stroll through the yard to collect flat leaves, stems and foliage to press against a gel plate coated in slow drying acrylic paint (supplies are listed below, with links). If you don’t have a yard, visit a park.

I gathered magazines, and several heavy books to weight the paper to the gel plate for the magazine transfer segment of the process.

Prepare Your Printmaking Paper to Match the Gel Plate

Simple tools, a couple of hours, and a kitchen counter covered with a disposable plastic table cloth, with a friend. You can do this too.

I trimmed printmaking paper sheets into smaller sizes to fit the dimensions of the gel plate in advance. I also gathered blank, white, pre-scored card stock, and envelopes, which resulted in a pile of pretty botanical printed cards to send out (see below).

You can see my mat board backing under the gel plate with masking tape marks in the photo above. The tape markers help to align the printmaking paper onto the gel plate close to the same position for each layer of color.

Print on Various Papers, with Planned Colors

Botanical prints aplenty drying on the kitchen counter. Envelopes on the left, and card stock in the middle, and printmaking paper on the right.

I pulled a few botanical prints that had close values: not a lot of contrast or distinctive leave shapes, to use as backgrounds for a magazine image transfer.

If there’s too much detail and contrast in the botanical print, it’ll be difficult to see the subtle halftones in the magazine image transfer you lay on top of complex patterns.

Magazine Image Transfer Over Gel Plate Botanical Print

This magazine transfer was printed over an orange, ochre and green layered botanical gel print of nasturtium leaves (see above).

The image was from an ad in a glossy magazine that transferred pretty well – enough to be a starting point for some colored pencil playtime. Botanical print, under magazine transfer, from a gelli plate and now colored pencil: true mixed media.

Adding Colored Pencil to Gel Plate Prints

I’ve been testing this lovely set of colored pencils (see the source list below), and so far, they’re working very well on gel plate prints. I especially like that each color-family is in a removable tray (see below) so I can lay them out on the couch cushions, or the kitchen counter when working on art in the evenings. And the forty dollar price tag for ninety six colors seems reasonable compared to other brands.

Sitting on the couch last night with tea and a box of colored pencils (see the sources links below) – I had a lovely evening of adding abstracted layers of color to the image transfer.

Supplies Used to Make This Art (with links)

• Gel Plate
• Rubber Brayer
• Mat Board backing
• Printmaking Paper
• Slow Dry Acrylic Paint
• Colored Pencils
• Nasturtium Leaves
• Disposable plastic Table Cloth

Previous Posts on Gel Plate Prints

My previous experiments with gel plate printmaking in abstracts, botanicals and ball point pen drawing transfer can be found here:

• A portrait of two dogs, done with a ball point pen and acrylic paint transfer and then enhanced with colored pencil.

• Another post featuring gelli plate magazine transfer images layered on top of a botanical print, with links to video tutorials I was inspired by

• Based on a family photo of my son-in-law twirling my grand daughter on the lawn – this is the same transfer method of gel plate printing with ball point pen embossing.

• Lots of step by step photos in this simple landscape print created from a gelli- plate and a ball point pen, enhanced with colored pencils.

• This was the very first gel plate emboss transfer monoprint post - featuring a girl on a sailboat – and it has many links to sources where I learned how to make one.

• Another gel plate and ballpoint post of a monoprint – this time, a girl practicing at the piano, with lots of process photos and some inspiration from other printmakers around the internet.

• Testing the notion of still life subjects with gelli plate monoprint, with process tips to pay attention to based on a few of the hiccups I stumbled upon.

Deciding to Create Something

I create in fits and starts, and it takes an enormous effort to wrestle myself to finish what I begin before I get lured into making The Next Thing. (My Word of the Year resolution in 2024 was Finish.)

While learning how to sew this year, I’ve added to my already-full bucket of watercolor, printmaking, gardening, cooking and blog writing options. Spreading myself too thin is a regular observation while pondering weekly planning.

If you’re over-stuffed with projects too – and a stack of choices cause floundering towards doing nothing – try a forced ranking session. My husband taught me this. Make a cup of your favorite tea, and list the creative things you’d like to tackle with some reserved time coming up on your horizon. (Notice, I said Reserved time, not Free time, because no time is free.)

On the side of your list, jot down how much time you’ll have to dip your toe in the making process. Even if it’s only 30 minutes, hold that for yourself.

Now, back on your column, number every item on your creative adventure options in order of priority based on your WISHES in the moment. What’s in last place? What’s in first, and keep in mind that your ranking isn’t a statement about Forever. This is just for now. What appeals the least? (Not what you “should do”. As they say – Don’t Should on Yourself.) What appeals the most – in your number one position?

I clink my cup of tea to yours as we launch into our next fun project together. What are you making?

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next post -

Belinda

P.S. Have you ever printed on fabric using vegetables? Check out this artichoke and celery tea towel print project from Leslie Saeta.

Art Quote

Choice of attention — to attend to this and ignore that — is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences. ~W. H. Auden

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