Some wabi-sabi up ferns along the pond caught my eye on my after dinner walk last evening. I was quite smitten with insect holes and the patterns in the negative spaces.
I brought a few home and pressed them in a catalog to dry out a bit. But late last evening (never a good idea) I pulled one out and took it to the gelli plate. I had a pre-painted green index card and thought I would pull a print with dark blue paint.
I faced a number of problems: the fern wasn't dry enough and really too limp and fragile to work with...I didn't have my glasses on...and I used to much paint...so I assumed it was a flop. I would be more patient and wait for the others to dry out a bit and try it again another day.
If this were a print on paper it would make fabulous collage fodder all cut up....some of the pieces and parts are pretty wonderful.
Just look at that feathery veining on the right....it looks like tiny tree branches. That's the magic of gelli plate.
Whoa! That feathery veining on the right is spectacular! Big magic! And the veining is NOT coming from the imprint of the fern itself, correct?
ReplyDeleteSo, you press/dry your botanicals first before painting them for printing and/or using them with your gelli plate?
I appreciate your questions Dotty. I'm no expert....but I've done a lot of playing around. And still....I'm not always successful.
DeleteNo...the veining is NOT coming from the leaf....it's just the way the paint pooled up under the card. My guess it's a combination of too much paint, the slick nature of the raw manilla card....AND a little magic. I have the ghost print to prove it...and may post that tonight.
I don't always press botanicals before I print...but I often do. Many leaves can go straight to the gel plate...but fragile things like ferns, for me at least, benefit from being flattened and a little dried out. And...if I don't get right to the plate with them they just start shriveling up....and pressing them keeps them flat.