Forays into Monoprinting
Lately I’ve been experimenting quite a bit with monoprinting on the gel plate (commonly known by one trade name, Gelli Plate). Monoprinting, as the word implies, produces one-of-a-kind prints. It calls for a loose, spontaneous, improvisational approach . . . so it’s not a natural for me! I’m the woman who likes to make innumerable samples to get the process just right before I make the Final Piece. So the gel plate has been making me slightly crazy. Every sample is different.
One of the better prints
Mostly I’m using slow-drying acrylic paints, but sometimes I throw in a charcoal transfer on the plate too. It’s taken me awhile to get my analytical, control-freak brain around the fact that great results simply aren’t easily reproducible, no matter how good your notes are. But I have learned a few crucial things that are helping me make my peace with the process:
In each session I should stick to one palette, thereby ensuring I end up with a batch of coordinated papers.
If I’m making papers for, say, an artist’s book, I need to make every print on the “good (expensive) paper.” When the happy accidents happen I need to be able to use them. I do use cheap copy paper for “clean-off” prints to remove excess paint from the plate, but the artwork itself calls for better paper.
Don’t leap to judgment. Often I find that right after I pull a print, I’m disappointed because it doesn’t turn out as I’d expected. Later on I discover that once I let go of that preconceived notion, I actually like the print after all. The “mistakes” are often way more interesting. Hmmm. This is something I learn over and over again.
Some gel prints for the “Birding with Mom” artist book. Some papers were overprinted on street maps printed on an inkjet printer first. For this project, I used Red River Aurora Art Natural 300, a heavyweight inkjet photo paper.
After making four mockups and many many prints, I finally had enough good ones to assemble into this artist’s book I’ve had in mind for awhile. It’s a one-off accordion book, a personal piece called “Birding with Mom” about my discovery of her Peterson Field Guide, all marked up with her notations. I never did actually go birding with Mom while she was alive, but looking through her guide makes me realize I see many of the same birds here in New Mexico that she saw in Ohio. For the poem I wrote for the book and the gel-printed and collaged field guide pages (copies) in it, I focused on common birds that sadly are becoming less common, birds like the robin and the crow.
“Birding with Mom” unique artist’s book by Molly Elkind
“Birding with Mom” reverse side. The street maps are neighborhoods where my mother lived and where I live now.
While this book has some technical flaws, I’m jazzed enough about it to want to develop more artist book projects. The books I hope to make will be constructed with more precise craftsmanship and will, I hope, marry the content of the book to the form. I have many technical problems to solve along the way, but it’s the kind of challenge I’ve been looking for, I think.
If you make artist’s books too—or gel prints—I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.