Stencils are a marvellous addition to your Gelli printing. The possibilities are endless. You can use them as a background or repeat shapes such as silhouettes or letters.
Of course, you can combine a Gelli plate and stencils, yet stencils can also be used on paper, walls or textiles.
Especially if you have several stencils, you can use them repeatedly and still have a different result every time. So stencils are a great addition to your creativity toolbox.
In my personal challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily for 365 days, I am focusing on one aspect a month. More or less. It’s not written in stone, of course.
The month before, I primarily worked on art journaling, using illustrations and text. February 2023 was dedicated to transferring pictures to the Gelli prints.
I used several methods. The main difference was either Gelli printing or using the copy machine on tissue paper.
My personal challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily for 365 days, is almost halfway.
This month I focused on the combination of text and image. As I describe in another article, you can make text in many ways.
In some cases, very few tools are needed, whereas, in others, a bit more effort is required.
Either way, just as making images unleashes a lot of creativity, so does making texts. 🙂
I gave myself a challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily. For half the month I was ill (Covid, grrr). I did make collages some days, but on other days I had to skip.
Inspired by a friend who followed a course in art journaling, I too put some first steps on that path.
The main difference with the November collages is the text and the date stamp I added.
It’s great to see the art journal pages of others to get inspired. Look at my Instagram account and click the hashtag #artjournal or #artjournaling. (In the first comment of my posts).
I gave myself a challenge, an assignment to make a collage daily. Gelli printing made me really enthusiastic, so in November I was totally committed to making Gelli prints.
So much so, that I made a separate article about the process and the discoveries of my experiments that you can read here:
What is Gelli Printing and What Makes it so Amazingly Easy?
It’s great to see the Gelli prints of others to get inspired. Have a look at my Instagram account and click the hashtag #gelliplate or #gelliprint. (In the first comment of my posts).
Even if you give yourself the assignment to make a collage for 365 days, it can be difficult to keep up. Especially when you travel.
On the other hand, it is very satisfying to find ways to do so.
In October we were still on the road for 2 weeks. Making a daily collage from paper and glue was out of the question, which I solved by making photo collages in Canva or using the Hipstamatic app.
In addition, I made assemblages from materials I encountered along the way.
Being creative is very important to me. Oh wait, I think it’s important for everybody. 🙂
The gesso printing technique is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. And it’s a perfect hobby.
What I like about working with newspapers or magazines is, that I get not only a picture on the paper, but that I can leave parts of the front side of the paper intact. That way it’s a mix between a monoprint and a collage.