Building Layers with a Printing Plate

 I recently purchased a Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate and I have had such fun experimenting with it. The results have been reminding me of those Rorschach Tests where you try to find meaning in an ink blot, or being in elementary school and smashing glue or paint between sheets of paper. The possibilities of creating amazing backgrounds with this plate are endless.

 For this demonstration, I decided to start with a page from an atlas instead of plain white paper. I brushed a thin layer of yellow acrylic paint on the printing plate and then used old lids to make circles. Then I placed the map face down on top of the printing plate, smoothed it out, and then peeled it off and let it dry.
 

 The result is on the left. It is beautiful all on its own; you can see bits of the map peeking out, but I couldn't stop there. I brushed Citrine Lumiere metallic acrylic paint onto the plate and rubbed it around with my paintbrush. Then I added swirls of Pearlescent Magenta Lumiere metallic acrylic paint all over on top of the Citrine. Again I placed the map face down on top of the printing plate, smoothed it out, and then peeled it off. This is what I got:

 I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I see a field of shimmery flowers of course, with the blue sky peeking through the green foliage, so I think I'll take a black pen and do some outlining to give it a little more definition. Then I'll trim it down and use it for a page in my art journal.

Here's a few more backgrounds I created by building layers upon layers of paint on top of magazine pages. I'm excited to try some backgrounds with gesso; I think a bright white background will really help the colors pop.