Gelli Plate Printing: Mixed-Media Monoprinting Without a Press

by Joan Bess

Meet your dream plate and fall in love with a faster, friendlier approach to printmaking.For artists and crafters who love the creative possibilities of monoprinting on gelatin but not the prep time, mess and inconvenience that comes with it, the Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate is a dream come true! It's durable, reusable, stored at room temperature, and ready to get creative whenever you are. Simply apply paint with a soft rubber brayer, make your marks and pull your print. It's that simple! Wipe the plate down with a spritz of water and a paper towel, and you're ready to go again.In this premier guide, artist Joan Bess--inventor of the concept for the Gelli plate--unleashes the fun through more than 60 step-by-step techniques. Create intriguing patterns using tools like sponges, textured rollers and homemade combs. Learn how to incorporate stencils and rubber stamps. Experiment with metallic paint, dimensional paint and gel medium. Become a texture-hunter, creating a wide world of effects using embossed papers, natural objects, rubber bands, lace, corrugated cardboard, metal tape, die cut letters...anything goes!Even beginners can enjoy immediate gratification--just grab a textured surface, smoosh it into your painted Gelli plate, and you'll have a stack of amazing prints in no time. For experienced printmakers, the inspirations in these pages will push you to experiment, adapt, combine and layer. It's easy, fun and totally addicting!Printmaking just got easier!   • Expert tips from the creator of the Gelli plate   • 60+ awesome step-by-step techniques   • Ideas for incorporating stamps and stencils, using ghost prints, salvaging uninspired prints, and more   • 26-page gallery shows the many wonderful ways artists are incorporating Gelli printing into their work

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Crafts, Creative, Reference

539 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 12, 2014

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good instructional and inspirational book about Gelli plate monoprinting. I'll be picking up a used copy as reference for some of the more complicated techniques.

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are already familiar with monoprinting techniques, whether with gelatin plates or other methods, there is not a lot of new information in this book. Regardless of the substrate, the process of monoprinting is pretty similar. That said, there is lots of interesting examples and I did appreciate how the gallery section even included some rough instructions on how to achieve similar effects. If you are brand new to monoprinting and want the effects of gelatin printing with a long term plate this book is a great place to start.

[Anjanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book I have seen about Gelli Plate Printing

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Something exhilarating happened when I started monoprinting on gelatin plates several years ago - sheer FUN! Winging it with an experimental attitude, playing with paint, color, texture, and moving at a fast pace... The adrenaline rush when pulling each print off the plate... Everything about this printing process was magical... except the gelatin. Ugh! In my experience-it turned mushy, fell apart, got moldy... It was a small leap from thinking about the concept of a nonperishable gel plate to becoming obsessed with having one...

Gelli printing has taken the art and craft world by storm. Across all corners of the globe-artists and crafters, teachers and students, men and women, seniors and children are taking brayer in hand, rolling out acrylic paint, making their marks and pulling incredible prints. It's easy, fun and totally addicting!" Introduction - pg. 7

I Loved this book and with over 92 pages of Techniques, varying from Negative Painting on a Print; The Painterly Print; Texture Plates: Corrugated Cardboard; Textured Rollers; Writing on the Gelli Plate; Paper Cloth, and much more the potentiality for Creating is exponential. Joan ends the book with 22 Artists illustrating with Prints how they've used the Gelli Plate in their practice, thus providing the novice with additional resources with which to captivate the Muse. This work was executed with brilliance and ingenuity, and my Gelli Plate and I are already having a thrilling time!

[Hannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessant boek. Bepaalde tips ga ik zeker proberen. Andere spreken mij niet zo aan, maar dat hoeft ook niet. Dit boek laat zien wat je allemaal met de gelliplate kunt. Het is logisch dat niet alles evenveel aanspreekt. Ik werk zelf graag met de gelliplate, maar ik kan op dat gebied zeker nog wat leren. Ik heb de mijne nog geen jaar en hoewel ik ‘m al een paar keer gebruikt heb, heb ik zeker nog niet alles ontdekt wat je ermee kunt. Daarom was dit een interessant boek om te lezen. Leuk detail: dit boek is geschreven door de bedenker van de gelliplate. Ik wist niet dat Joan Bess daarachter zat. Je had eerder wel gelplates, die maakte jezelf. Maar deze bedierven op den duur.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superfijn boek. Ik heb hem in het nederlands en er worden heel veel verschillende technieken uitgelegd om te werken met de gelliplate. Heel wat inspiratie te vinden in 1 boek met stap voor stap uitleg. Ook worden er op het einde van het boek verschillende artiesten besproken die met de gelliplate werken.

[Lynn McNeill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gelli Plate Printing by Joan Bess is really a great guide to using Gelli plates. The photos are clear and the steps involved are easy to follow. There is a lot of information from beginners to more advanced. I was able to learn and the encouragement in this book gave me confidence to experiment. I was able to make beautiful prints.

would recommend to all

[Virginia Pulver · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide offers up 50 step-by-step techniques for exploring the potential of the Gelli plate. Using this book as a guide allows an artist to explore techniques quickly and effectively. I enjoyed seeing the gallery of artists showcasing how they use these techniques in their own studios. I look forward to experimenting with the paper cloth technique!

[Penny Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Nice examples of various techniques. I ended up skimming it because I ran out of time on my library loan. I want to learn more about this technique, but feel I would benefit more from seeing it done.

[flajol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this cover-to-cover the day it arrived, and now I'm planning to spend the weekend playing with gel plates and paint. This provides a clear, informative guide on how to lay down paints to get different layers and effects. As a complete beginner, it's exactly what i'm looking for.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay—I just barely ordered a Gelli plate of my own. So, to the author of this book, I say “mission accomplished.”

These projects look incredibly fun, and I am excited to try everything for myself.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so jammed packed with general/specific information, visual examples, tips that anyone can jump into the art of gelli plate printing. Get this book and play!

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, nice pictures, good information for beginners and for the more advanced artists.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gelli printing inspiration & instruction

I learned so much about gelli printing. I can’t wait to create my own versions by combining techniques. Great book for a beginner.

[Elena · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have been thinking about jumping into gel plate printing, this book will explain the basics and get you started and motivate you to advanced techniques as shown in finished pieces.

[Jacqueline Nyathi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and helpful

[Jean W-L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of techniques, helpful photographs.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I don't own a gelli plate but did do some monoprinting using plexiglass sheets years ago in college. After reading through this book I think that the two techniques are mostly interchangeable.
The methods presented in this book include both additive and subtractive methods of making prints. There are instructions for creating layer, using masks, making your own texture plates and tools, and more.
As I'm trying to get back into making more art and I think that printmaking could be really fun and easy way to do that. They can be created as stand-alone art or used as components for other types of art pieces.

Age Recommendations: Printmaking is simple enough for even very small kids to do but has enough variations to stay interesting for experienced adult artists. This book would be inspiring for all ages.

[Denise Huntington · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing I did not care for in reading this book is that I had already seen many of the techniques in video form online. That said, this makes a great reference book or a primer for someone who is not familiar with the use a gelatin plate for creating monoprints.

[LA Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent guide for anyone wanting to get started making monoprints with Gelli plates. Clear, concise instrictions, great photobraphs of each pricess. A very good and useful book on technique.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Now I have to get a gelli plate! :)

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. I bought this book along with a gelli plate and I can't wait to get started. Looks like a lot of fun.

[Grisel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has lots of great ideas and techniques on monoprinting with gelli plates. I don't own one yet but it has inspired me to give it a try in the future as well as using some of these techniques on other mediums.