Large Gelli prints using a small Gelli plate

I got a 6x6 inch Gelli plate the other day.  After a lovely time experimenting with small cute prints (I will post in a separate post) I had a brainwave and thought. ."what if I could make a large image using it like a stamp to make large textures all over" so here goes the results!
First I layered up the background using lots of texture but in  subtle way: ghost prints of stencils and leaves,  feathers and doilies.  I then added detailed shapes using hand cut stencils of plant forms and birds.  Once this was all dry I did my usual of drawing into them using paint pens and gel pens. 
Do you like the results? 

The owl and the pussycat: Gelli prints with caligo inks

One of the other women on the Facebook Gelli printing group I am a member of recently turned me onto caligo safe wash relief inks and i have to say I am hooked!  I love how transparent the layers are,  the delicious smell (smells like art school. . Linseed oil. .) And the longer drying time therefore longer working time. 

So here's some photos of my work in progress.  I chose the subject of the owl and the pussycat for two reasons: I was inspired by the shape of waves that I saw on my shower curtain,  and also I'm taking part in an exhibition later this year with some other artists in which the theme is "Le chat" (the cat) and I'm getting my head around catty themes!

So I cut some stencils from plastic wallet dividers and printed many layers of sea using my new inks (I mixed the colours myself)

I made little foam stamps for the owl and the pussycat. 

Amd once it was all dry drew into them with paint pens.

I will have these up for sale in my etsy shop as prints soon here www.etsy.com/uk/shop/lucybrydonart

And here's the link to the Gelli arts page with lots of hints and tips!

Loving lifebook!

I'm taking two courses this year,  it's great to learn a few new techniques and give myself the push to create new things.  One of them is lifebook with the amazing teacher Tamara Laporte and her guest teachers.  The other is "A year of painting" with the lovely inspirational Alena Hennessy.

The first two photos are of my lifebook lesson last week.  Patti Ballard inspired us to create a ballerina type figure and this was my take on it.  I was inspired by the vintage photos of circus folk taken on hanging moons.

The second two photos are a painting I have been working on for a few weeks now and finally finished.  She was originally inspired by Tam ' s "beacon of light" lesson although mine looks nothing like the original I was inspired by the light coming from the figure. .I decided to do a moon child, and if course she had to have an owl!

Blending Gelli prints with photos

Here's something that takes Gelli printing to a new level! I've been experimenting with blending layers of photos together as part of the colab artistry course with Alena Hennessy and Susan Tuttle.  In this course Alena introduces painting backgrounds and photographing them to incorporate into your photo art.

So I thought. .. Why not try it with Gelli prints too! The first photo is of a Gelli print I made. . Using several layers of textures,  grasses and stencils.  The second photo is of my local hill. .It's got a lovely distinctive shape doesn't it!

The final photo is of the two blended together in layers in my Android apps. This one was photoblender but I also love superimpose. 

What do you think? 

Gelli print giveaway on my Facebook page!

This is the first blog post I have done in a long long time,  for two reasons:
1. I get really caught up in the doing of my art and tend to not get round to writing a blog
2. I am much better at doing than writing!

But at the moment I am having a giveaway on my Facebook page of one of my monoprints,  and several people asked me to share my process.  So here goes (and I hope I get this right as I am posting from my mobile! )

I can't express how much I love my Gelli plate!  Monoprinting is such an exciting process,  as you never quite know what you are going to get until the final pull. Sometimes it is looking great then you add one more layer and it all goes wrong.  But the great thing about monoprinting is that you can just begin again ~ and also I have discovered recently that by drawing into my monoprints you can transform them in new ways! 

Here I have put down the first layer,  using some masks I cut from plastic dividers.  Sometimes I use the stencils and sometimes the masks,  usually a combination of both and I work two or more prints at a time,  pulling the first print then a ghost print on the second sheet.  

Here's the first layer!  

And Here is the second layer on two prints.  

And a third. ..I have also used textures to press into the Gelli plate. . Bubble wrap,  sequin waste,  hessian,  sometimes I use textured wallpaper or old buttons.  Anything goes! 

This photo is a bit blurry but shows the final layer of the lightest trees at the front plus a ground where I only layered paint on the bottom of the Gelli plate.  

Now,  once it it's dry I start drawing with my trusty posca paint pens!  Outlining the trees..

And drawing details such as dots, leaves, branches, and a moon.  

The final photo shows the finished piece.  Hope you like it! 

If you like what you see follow my Facebook page  www.facebook.com/Art.By.LucyBrydon

and click through to there to enter my giveaway! Just remember to be a liker of my page, and like the giveaway post which is pinned to the top. good luck! 

101 Art Days: Day 3

Here's a little fairy. She is called Feeorin

I created her using layers of paper, drips of acrylic and painted her using oils. 

I am feeling so inspired by the group of artists I am working with, to create all these art pieces in 101 days. We are really motivating each other, encouraging and inspiring. 

Someone in the group suggested compiling some themes to work by, and I have mentally noted some of my own. One of which is fairy folk so here is the first one. 

101 Art Days, Day 2: 

continuing with the Native American theme today, as I had more than one background already prepared. 

This one had an image of a Native American girl, some old maps of the United States, and a stamp in the corner. I had overlaid it with a stencil of a flying bird.

 Work in progress adding layers of oil paint

And here she is just about finished I think. I am going to call it "Earth teach me freedom (as the eagle soars high)"

Someone asked me today why I chose a Native American subject matter... Well, a long time ago I spent a whole summer on a reservation, the Blackfoot reservation in Montana, helping out with a family business, going to ceremonies and gathering information for my history of art dissertation. Since then I have had an interest in their culture, but also the cultures of Nomadic people in general..gypsies, travellers, Native Americans... (psst this may be a hint for the book idea!!)