Rolling with my Gel Press

I love experimenting with different ways to create texture and interest on my Gel Press and for many years now I have turned to fun foam to help do this when monoprinting.  I love to team the fun foam with my dies to create my own stamps and texture plates.  I used this techniques for my prints in January that I shared here on the blog. There are lots of dies that have detail, meaning lots of scrap pieces which you can randomly stick onto cardboard giving you a stamp as well as using the actually die cut shape as a stamp.  Another idea is using them attached to a toilet roll to create a brayer like roller was shared at my local scrapbook store and on a video by Birgit Koopsen last year.  I love playing with this method. The toilet roll is slipped over a paint roller handle.

Here you can see some of my texture creations that I have on hand for my play today.

One texture I love is created using a piece of burlap ribbon, which I have stuck onto a toilet roll. My first layer above used this with red paint spread across the plate.

For this first layer red, burnt sienna and white are spread across the plate.  I always apply paint to the plate differently to create different layers, sometimes I apply paint sparingly for more transparent layers this often comes from the left over paint on the brayer from my first application of paint to the plate.

One of my favorite rollers is my circle one shown above, so I decided to play with circles today for this run of prints.  The end of the toilet roll makes great circle imprints as seen here on a really transparent layer of black ink. Different size circles can be achieved with different lids from plastic containers and bottles. 

I have another roller with small circle like foam pieces stuck to it and this combined with the end of the toilet roll, my favorite circle roller and my red, white and burnt sienna print come together beautifully creating great depth and interest.

A thin layer of black paint stamped with the end of the toilet roll was used over my initial red print with the burlap texture.

The rollers and stamps remove paint from the plate, the print below was all created in one single layer.

Working with the same colors over and over allows you to create a series of prints that are similar. For some layers I added color and pattern using the paint from the stamps, rollers and brayer.

Another way to get a different circle look using the end of the toilet roll is to tap it randomly over the surface of the plate, twisting as you go, this gives a thicker outline (where paint is removed) and is a final layer to add to those prints that you weren't overly happy with or your clean up papers.

Before you know it you will have passed the day away having lots of inky painty fun.