Paper Arts Bulletin

More prints that are inspired-by-but-not-in-the-same-league-of-other-artists.   This time, Stephen Dow, printmaker working as heraldBLACK.  Mr. Dow uses paper masks to create abstract prints. His prints look simple at first glance, but he creates depth and interest by repeated layering.  The techniques he uses include screenprinting, monoprinting, and collographs. I find myself trying to figure out the steps he took to get to the final print.  heraldBLACK's Facebook .  My prints, from the Gelli Arts printing plate, are below. Paper is copy paper. Print made with yellow ochre, black, gray, and primary blue paints.  Perhaps too much black paint.        Layers of ghost prints from the print above.  I like this better.   A bit more colorful. Yellow ochre, primary blue, gray, and green. Layered ghost prints of the print above. You can make similar prints by using paper or lightweight card st...

I'm printing faster than I can scan and make blog posts.  I made a new stencil from Strathmore's 300 Series Printmaking paper. I used the same paper to make the prints.  The 300 series paper is 120 g/m 2 , which is just slightly heavier than the Pacon drawing paper I have used in previous test prints.  The trick to using relatively lightweight papers to make prints is to use very little paint (or ink) on your printing plate.   My favorite print, which is actually layers of ghost prints. Plan B print. Plan B prints are made by adding thick white paint to the printing plate. The first pull will be mostly white paint.  The second pull will bring most of the old paint off the Gelli plate. caption If you look closely, you will see there are three mask shapes. Combs and masks. What not to do:  This is what happens when you start with yellow ochre, overprint with quinacridone magenta, and finish with phthalo green.  Any two of those co...

Gelli Arts recently released some new printing combs .   I decided to make some prints using tools I already had on hand.  (Said tools were photographed but not uploaded.  Ahem.)  I used a Catalyst Contour C-22 tool , and two combing tools made from old gift cards. Several layers of ghost prints.  This is a print I made in the spring, during the Strathmore Online Workshop with Traci Bautista.    Green and gold paints combed and overprinted atop magenta and yellow paints. Simple gold over green.  One of my favorites. 

While this blog has not been a paper arts bulletin for a long time—maybe I should change the name—I do occasionally post about new things going on in the paper arts world.  Here are a  couple of things that are new or newish: Gelli Arts has just put out a new tool to go along with its popular printing plate—large combs with rounded or square teeth of various sizes and spacing.  Three combs come in each package, so you can't buy just one to try it out.  Suggested retail for each three-comb package is $20.99, so that is actually a good price as compared to Catalyst wedges, which typically retail for $7.00 to $10.00 each.  Here is a video about the new tools.  Ranger's Dina Wakley Media line recently released some new products, including a rectangular tool that combines a paint comb and a stencil. The tool has different comb styles on three sides and one straight edge. The straight edge can be used to quickly cover a substrate with gesso or...

Just a quick post with more shapes made on the Gelli plate.  Included some layered ghost prints, too.  The first four prints  are ghosts made were made on drawing paper.  The last two—one a ghost and the other a first pull—were printed on ordinary copy paper.  I used Liquitex Basics, Golden fluid acrylics, and Golden open medium.   

Just playing around with mixing colors and shapes on the Gelli plate.  Inspired by Jane Davies and Joan Gillman Smith (but nowhere near that good.)  A word to the wise. You've probably seen a lot of videos and pictorials on how to use the Gelli plate. I know I have. I've also been making prints for months and been mostly dissatisfied with the results.  A lot of the videos and tutorials I've seen show people putting several dollops of paint onto the Gelli plate. I was doing the same thing until just a few weeks ago. I've realized that I have been using waaaaaayyyy too much paint.   Of course, your mileage may vary, but if you want crisper images from your Gelli prints, try using far less paint than you have been.  For the 8 x 10 plate, I would suggest just a few drops* of fluid acrylics or one small dollop of soft-bodied tube acrylics, such as Liquitex student-grade paints. Add a little glazing medium or open medium to keep the paint wet. ...

Inspired by this post (and give-away) from the Gelli Arts blog, I decided to make a few prints using my Gelli plate and ordinary household items.  I'm a big believer in using what you have in paper arts, so that post is right up my alley.  For my prints, I used plastic wrap, wax paper, bubble wrap, a paper towel tube, and rubber bands wrapped around an acrylic stamping block to create texture.   By the way, if you want to enter the give-away on the Gelli Arts blog, hurry.  The deadline to enter is Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at 12:00 noon EDT.    Pictures of the supplies I used and the resulting prints are below. I used plastic wrap, wax paper, an empty paper towel roll, Golden fluid acrylic paints, and bubble wrap to make my first set of prints from household items. Supplies I used for the first series of prints.   First-pull prints overprinted on the same sheet of paper. I did not try to line up the print registration each ...

. . . sort of.  Interweave's Create Mixed Media Retreats, week-long retreats at several locations throughout the United States, are, sadly, no more.  The events apparently fell victim to belt-tightening at F+W.   Create/Cloth Paper Scissors will have a one-day Art Journaling Live retreat on June 18, 2015, in conjunction with the Creating Keepsakes Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, Texas.   Mixed media stars Dina Wakley, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Nathalie Kalbach, and Mary Beth Shaw will be the instructors.  Details are here.    FYI:  Cloth Paper Scissors held a similar event in October 2013, with Dina Wakley, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Pam Carriker, and Traci Bautista as the instructors.       

Just a quick post today on an easy stamping technique and a giveaway (not mine).  Tina Fussell of A Subtle Revelry uses rubber bands, acrylic stamp blocks, and ink pads to create simple stamped designs on paper and fabric.  See her gorgeous results here.   H/T to the Gelli Arts Facebook page .   Speaking of which, Gelli Arts is giving away a Brother ScanNCut.  Hurry!  Contest ends Tuesday, April 28, 2015 at 12:00 noon EDT.  (They say EST, but since no one is on EST right now, grrrrrr!*, I think they mean EDT. *Indiana resident who hates daylight saving time and would love to be on EST right now.  Will post my experiments with plastic bag printing soon!      

A quick list of links to inspire your creativity for the weekend.   All are related to printmaking.  Enjoy! Elise of Grow Creative has a tutorial on p rinting with Styrofoam packaging and craft paints.    Jane Davies has a giveaway of Golden Open Acrylics on her blog .  Hurry, though.  She plans to post the winner Monday, April 13th.   You can still watch the videos and participate in the forum and gallery of Traci Bautista's free Strathmore online workshop.   While Traci is no longer posting new content, the  videos will be available until December 31, 2015.   Jenny Robinson's Printmaking Blog bills itself as "Everything you need to know about printmaking, and more . . ."  Sounds just about right.  Stop by Printeresting for a compendium of printmaking topics. Read all about "The Do's and Don'ts of Gelli Plate Printing" at the Keetons's Office & Art Supply blog. Carla Sonheim offers a self-p...

Just some simple cards I made in spring colors—a powder blue card base, Mustard Seed Distress ink background, and Rouge Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink for the spirals.  These cards are quick, easy, and cheerful.   The "Thank You" stamp is from Inkadinkado, and the "Get Well Soon" sentiment is by Stampabilities.  The Galaxy Spiral stamp is from Judikins.  The stamp could easily be used as fireworks on an Independence Day card and could be a good image for cards with retro or mod themes.    

Had to do the usual Saturday errands.  I'd eaten breakfast at about 5:30 a.m.—not my norm, by any means—so by the time I got home, I was ready for something quick. I'm not normally a fan of frozen pizza, but with a few additions, they can be pretty good.  At Aldi, I bought a Reggio sausage pizza, some spring salad mix, cremini mushrooms, and grape tomatoes. While the oven was preheating, I cleaned and prepped a few mushrooms and tomatoes. Once the pizza was baking, I sauteed the mushrooms and tomatoes and made a quick dressing for the salad.  Pictures—not the best due to the lighting in my kitchen—are below.  The pizza, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes from Aldi I sauteed the mushrooms and tomatoes at the same time. Normally, I would saute the mushrooms first, then add the tomatoes when the mushrooms were almost done.  Hunger dictated a shortcut, however.    Spring Mix salad greens Also from Aldi:  olive oil, white wine vine...

Just a quick post with some cards I made as part of  Traci Bautista's Strathmore online workshop .  I used a sheet of Strathmore's 400 Series printmaking paper, a strip of torn paper as a mask, and acrylic paints.  The swirl effects came from gliding a Catalyst Contour  tool across the paint on the Gelli Arts printing plate.    Cards made from gelli printed panels.  

Just a quick post with a picture of dyed paper towels I made this week as part of Traci Bautista's online printmaking class.  I always keep damp paper towels handy for cleaning off my brayer when making Gelli prints.  I used additional water, spray inks, and plastic needlepoint canvas to make the dyed paper towels.   Dyed paper towels made from damp Viva towels used to clean off my brayer while making Gelli prints. I used water, Liquitex Basics paints, Dylusions and SEI spray inks, and plastic needlepoint canvas. 

I'm taking Traci Bautista's Bold, Expressive, and Unconventional Printmaking, a Strathmore Online Workshop.  Strathmore offers free online art workshops every year.  Instructors provide supply lists and videos and participate in a forum.  Videos are available until December 31st.  If you'd like to sign up, go here .  Once you've created an account, you simply need to click on the tab/button for the workshop to watch the videos.  To participate in the forum for a  workshop , just click the "join group" link.    The first week of the class was about printmaking tools and patterns. I did not have the exact tools and supplies that Traci used, so I used my Gelli Arts printing plate to make prints. The prints were made with acrylic paints and a handmade stamp that I made big enough to cover the entire plate.    Various Gelli prints on tags, mixed media paper, and magazine subscription cards More pictures of my prints and...