I spent a few days investigating purchasing a Gelli Arts
Printing Plate. I discovered it would cost between NZ$55-65 to get one from
Australia or the US. I wonder if I can get one here in NZ??? Well, in theory, I
can - in fact I’ve ordered one on-line from Zigzag (a NZ company) but they still
haven’t replied to my email, and might never do so – I understand the owner is
very ill.
Well, I thought, in the ‘olden days’ they used to make
plates from ... gelatine (or gelatin for my American readers). How hard can it
be????
Quality time on-line found me a couple of recipes, many
interesting anecdotes, all sorts of ‘how-to’s’ and some awesome looking prints.
A trip to the Asian supermarket secured agar agar and a
large packet of gelatine; a fossick thru the pantry found some more, slightly
... ‘older’ gelatine (evidently the stuff doesn’t go off); googling found a NZ
supplier of Glycerin.
Wah-hoo-hay, as the Wiggles would say.
So, rock on Friday evening – I had less than an hour before
going out again ...
I’d decided to make what, in theory, is a ‘non-degrading’, ‘plasticised’
jelly-plate, or Hectograph (yep, it’s a real thing – check this link!)
Ingredients:
Glycerine
|
200ml
|
Gelatine
|
35gm
|
Sugar
|
51g
|
Water (boiling)
|
120ml
|
I doubled this to fill the container I’d chosen – a plastic
drawer, 12 ½ x 9 inches. I wanted something I could move easily, without
splashing it everywhere. Also, I was concerned that while we were out, the
animals might have a light snack! The plate is about 1cm/1” thick.
The theory is that the glycerin is meant to ‘plasticise’
the mixture, making it stronger and more durable. I stirred and stirred, making
sure it was all mixed well, then left it to solidify while we were out. By the
time we came home about 2130, it was nice and firm, but I was too tired to play.
Saturday morning – 1030 (ish) (after a nice sleep-in,
with the help of pain-killers)
The plate (and I’m going to call it that, just letting you
know), came out quite easily, after running a knife round the edges of the
plastic to break the air seal. I placed it on a sheet of glass (left over from
the last time I broke the lid of the fish tank). We tried wrapping it in
plastic wrap, but there were too many wrinkles.
IT FELT DISGUSTING! OMG! Slimy, slippery, clammy, cold ...
got any more good descriptive adjectives here? EWWWWWWWW!
Paper. Paint. Brayer. Texture plates, ‘stencils’.
Oh, texture plates – made some last night – got out my Cuttlebug and embossing plates, cut up some sheets of plastic (the sort you put on the front of bound documents), and wacked them thru – ooooh – such goodness!
Artworks Violet (cheap,
nasty) – didn’t stick to the plate, but sure stuck to the brayer. Added some Pebeo Rose and Vert – they stuck
to the plate a bit better. Added some texture plates. Yeah. Well. Disappointing
to say the least.
Kaibo Yellow (cheap, nasty –
see Artworks) – again, didn’t stick to the plate. Chroma A2 Cadmium Scarlet and
Plaid Folkart Cobalt (didn’t stick).
The first picture is the ‘front’, and the
second is what was left on the brayer – the ‘wipe-off’. This still feels sticky
and horrid about 10 hours later, as tho it has gelatine/glycerine attached as
well as paint.
Sullivans Periwinkle +
Plaid Folkart Engine Red – neither stayed on the plate, and the red was a bit
solid.
The best so far was the Chroma A2 Cadmium
Scarlet.
The plate is already showing wear
and tear after ... less than 10 prints maybe?
Placing texture plates really
didn’t work; however, using them with the paint onto plain paper worked well. The
two stencils – star punchinella and holey cardboard, were much more effective.
Overall, I’m rather disappointed.
Tomorrow I’ll try my Golden fluid acrylics, but I suspect they’re too ‘fluid’
to leave an imprint.
Tonight, I’m going to make a
smaller, plain gelatine plate – which will need to be kept in the fridge. After
church tomorrow, I’ll have a play.
4 comments:
It's interesting to read about your experiment! Never found that recipe, I simply used gelatine (honestly, I only had a few packages of the stuff you use to cover a fruittart LOL). Although it wears out easily, I made a lot of prints with all kinds of different paints and it worked perfectly. The scratches and marks on the gelliplate just adds interest ;-) Try it again with thich gelatine, it has to become really firm! Mine also never felt slippery. Don't give up!
Thanks Brigitte - I've got a second plate solidifying - just gelatine this time.
I just came across your page while researching how to make a gelatin plate and will try out your recipe. I wondered whether you had used oil- based paints / inks? That could be the reason they stayed on the brayer, they won't be able to sit on the gelatin's surface because gelatin is water-based. Water-soluble inks and paints, including acrylic, ought to be fine.
I have made 2 plates so far. The first attempt I had to melt it and fish out the hunks! I used it for a few prints then it cracked so I melted it again. I left it covered to about a week but mould set in so I had to throw it out. I have made a second one that cracked as I was getting it out of the mould. Remelted it and have made about a dozen prints on it. It cracked again. I'm just investigating ordering one from amazon. I would ultimately like the 12 x 14 inch but it doesn't ship to NZ. The 8 x 10 does. I really wish they had a 9 x 12 inch. What I have spent on glycerol and gelatin I could have invested in a bought plate.
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