EXPERIMENTAL COLLAGED ABSTRACTS

Here are a couple of small collaged abstracts that I did with papers, produced with the gel plate. They are in one of my sketch books.  The one above explores squares and rectangles in a range of sizes.  I have outlined some of the squares with a black marker pen to give additional emphasis.

In the sample above, I have collaged a paper circle in a contrast colour, to give variety and interest to the design.

66TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CARD!

I made this card for my parents 66th wedding anniversary which is today!

The background was done with a gel plate.  I then collaged shapes - some punched out - to form the picture.  They were outlined with  a black marker and the writing was added by hand with a white gel pen.

I outlined the picture with a metallic gold pen, as well as rubbing some gold onto the background and adding to the  centre of the flowers...

MORE CARDS USING PRINTED PAPERS

Here are a couple more cards that I have created, using papers that had been mono printed using a gel plate. The pear just appeared in a single overprinted paper.  I just added some simple defining outlines with a black marker, and viola there was a design! This was then mounted onto another sheet of painted paper, before being stuck onto cream textured card stock.

The door design uses cut and punched out shapes collaged onto another printed paper. The lettering was done with cerne relief in imitation lead. This makes a raised shiny texture, which I left overnight to dry, before mounting it on the card stock.

PUNCHED SHAPES FOR FLOWERS!

These two cards were made out of papers, that I had printed, using a gel plate.  I used one of the papers as a background, and then cut and punched out shapes, which were then collaged on with matt medium.

All the flowers were a combination of different punches, which were further embellished with a black marker and white gel pen.

LOOKING OUT FROM THE INSIDE...

I did this small artwork for my artist friend Penny, who has recently spent a day with me in my studio.  I showed her printing with a gel plate - a technique she loved so much, she now has bought her own gelli plate!

She loved the subtle colours of the above background paper that I had just printed, and asked me to develop it into a picture.  I have always liked depicting windows, looking out from an interior - it is a subject that I often return to.

I love the paintings of the late Mary Fedden, who painted still life and landscapes in the same artwork by looking out through windows. "Each of my paintings is a mixture of things that I'm looking at, and my thoughts and imagination," is a quote from a very interesting article taken from the May issue of The Artist magazine in 2008.

VARIETY IN COLOUR

With this next on-line exercise it was back to variety, (see February 1st post). This time, instead of using only black and white, any colour could be chosen.  I enjoyed playing around with colour, shape and line and seeing how much variety I could get into each one.  Each work is A4 in size.  The techniques I used included,  printing with the gel plate, stencilling, stamping, painting with various implements and making lines with a graphite stick and markers.  I feel the numerous layers give an air of mystery to them and have given me plenty of ideas for new works.

VALENTINE GIFT BAGS

My latest decorated gift bags for the gallery are ready for that special valentine present.  I put my new gelli plate to good use.  I rolled out the acrylic paint onto the gel plate - red, bright pink and green - and added texture with an old plastic ruler.  I then placed a sheet of paper, with a heart shaped stencil cut into it, over the paint and then pressed the prepared bag on top. The text was added with a permanent marker and a tag was made from a cardboard toilet roll.  One punch was used for the tag shape and a small heart shaped punch added decorative detail.

YET MORE SHAPES

Another session in the studio resulted in another four drawings to submit for lesson 3 on shapes.  This time the colour scheme was totally different - shades of green with a bit of brown. I varied the size of the leaf shape and used the gel plate to make backgrounds and stencilled shapes.  I also added some torn or cut painted papers.

MORE SHAPES

I have been in the studio working on more shapes using my gel printing plate and making negative as well as positive shapes.  I have also collaged some painted paper to the two samples on the left.

EXPLORING SHAPES

The latest lesson from Jane Davies explores shape as the main element of the drawings.  The course is called '100 drawings on cheap paper' and the definition of drawing is taken in its widest sense.  I started by christening my new gel printing plate bought specifically for this course.  It was quick and easy to use and produced great results.  It is something I am sure I will be using a great deal in the future.  Here are my first samples - I have used stencils, the gel plate, collage, graphite stick and water-soluble coloured pencils with acrylic paints, including a couple of transparent ones.