This is a FREE hybrid event but registration is required.
REGISTER HERE if you wish to attend the ONLINE program. You will be sent a link to join.
RSVP HERE if you plan on attending the program IN PERSON so we can have an idea of supplies needed and setting up our space.

Monoprinting with a Gel Plate

presented by Georgia Greeley and Colleen Mlecoch

Simply put, monoprinting is a type of printmaking in which an image is made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface, then transferred onto a piece of paper by pressing the paper and the plate together.

In this hands-on session, Georgia and Colleen will discuss the tools and materials you can use for monoprinting with a Gel Plate and demonstrate several monoprinting techniques. Basic artistic concepts such as positive and negative shapes; mark-making with a variety of tools; value, color, and multi-print layering will be considered. Playful experimentation will be encouraged! You can print along in person or via Zoom!

A materials list and instructions for making your own gel plate will be provided in advance.

ONLINE:

Register by following the link above. You will be sent an access link. Please join us at 12:30.

IN-PERSON:

We will be meeting at Hennepin Technical College Eden Prairie Campus at 13100 College View Drive; Eden Prairie, MN 55347.

Please park in the back lot (staff parking) in front of Door J. When you enter the campus and see the main entrance (with the beautiful mural) keep to the right and drive around the building until you see a set of glass double doors. Park in that small lot. Enter the double doors and someone will be there to show you to our workspace. Here’s a map:

EP Campus Map

Supplies Needed:

Gel Printing Plate

Gelli Arts or Gel Printing Plate

OR

Handmade Gel Plate (clear gelatin + glycerin)

Find great video instructions HERE

NOTE: Speedball Gel Platesä are designed to be used with Speedball printing inks, NOT acrylics

Paint

Prints can be made with everything from tempera paints to oil pigment sticks to watercolor paint. Acrylic paints are the most popular medium. You can add a retarder, glaze or open medium to your acrylic paint to extend the time, but this is not necessary.

The gel plate surface is engineered to release the media, so even fast-drying media, such as metallic acrylic colors and alcohol-based inks can be used with a medium to pull a print. Certain colors of alcohol inks (bright yellows and greens) may stain your gel plate, but will not affect its performance. The key to choosing a medium is, if you can wash it off the gel plate with stuff you would use to clean your hands, it should work well on the plate.

See Sally Hirst video REVIEW of acrylic paints for gel plate printing

Here are a couple of recommended mediums:

Golden Open Acrylics work well because of their longer drying time (except in high humidity!)
Golden Open Gel Medium (Matte/Gloss) or Golden Retarder (generally, use ½ as much medium as paint)

The Rest

Brayer (Speedball Soft Rubber)

Baby Wipes (to clean gel plate)

Scrap Paper (card stock weight for making masks; standard weight/tissue for rolling/cleaning brayer)

Stuff with which to Make Marks – Textures and Patterns

Color shapers, rubber tipped tools, stencils, positive and negative mask shapes cut/torn from card stock, rubber stamps, cheese cloth, bubble wrap, scotch tape, foam paint rollers with things stuck to them or cut out of them, styrofoam plates with designs etched into them, twigs, dried flowers/leaves, chopsticks, credit cards with notches cut, twine/string, sponges, shelf liner, masking fluid, etc …

Papers

A smooth paper works best for capturing detail. Detail may be lost on a paper that is too absorbent. The more textured the surface, the more distressed the resulting print. Avoid photography or glossy papers; the emulsion can separate and stick to the plate and may damage the surface permanently.

Some recommendations (you don’t need them ALL): Strathmore 300 or 400 printmaking paper, Rives BFK printmaking paper, Japanese print papers,140# HP watercolor paper, mixed media, bristol, rice paper, deli paper (collage), tissue paper, brown Kraft paper, old book/music pages, etc.