2016 #9 Down By The Sea {by Helen Chilton}

 2016 Topic 9: Mono Printing

Hi everyone Helen here.

Tonight I'd like to share with you this evening with a post using the Gelli Plate and The Cat's Meow Ocean stamps .

Now I have to be honest and say that although I have a Gelli, (it was one of those must have buys!) I hardly ever use it, although I have seen other people producing lovely backgrounds with it. For my project I'm going to use it with inks and look at how you can use it to take out colour and create mirror images of your stamps.

Brayer on your first ink colour - here I've used Distress inkpad Salty Ocean:

Add some Chipped Sapphire ink at the top and blend together:

Here I've taken the frame I'm going to use and pressed it down into the ink so I can see where to stamp:

Next, press a clean stamp down onto the inked area - you're going to take colour out:

You can just see the outline of the seagull:

Add more stamping - extra logs and shells - and take a print. It gives a ghost like effect. (Sorry my camera died here and I forgot to take a separate pic!):

Next use your Gelli to produce a reverse image of the seagull. Just ink up with Distress Hickory Smoke, stamp , lay card on top and pull off image:

To finish the frame: crumple up and tear the background a bit and insert in frame. Give the frame a loose wash with Chalk Fresco paint and dab with one of the baby wipes you used to clean the Gelli to get some blue tones in there. Stamp 'Ocean ' in Hickory Smoke and outline with a black watercolour pencil. Use inkpads and watercolour pencils to colour in the extra images (all stamped in Hickory Smoke), cut out and layer up.

The best thing I liked about this project was being able to get a reverse image of my seagull that looks as though it's been directly stamped. The ghosting in the background was okay, but I did find that the Gelli does have a bit of a mind of its own and picks up every little blob or mark that comes out in the print whether you like it or not - hence why I crumpled it all up a bit to make it look 'worn'. Not sure if that's because the ink is reacting with the surface of the Gelli Plate. I didn't have any of the Drying Retarder for the Frescos, but if you did, you could try this technique with paint instead.

So, have a go and see what you come up with.

Helen

Thanks Helen for kicking off our new topic with this lovely 3d project. I like how the reverse stamping worked on the seagulls, as well as how you have managed to create so much dimension using the pencils on the other focal images. ~Gillian

We would love to see how you interpret this Mono Printing topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #9: Mono Printing, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas,  particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Mono Printing link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, May 15th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.