Printmaking without the Gelatin Plate

rusty inspiration on the side of the road by linda germainFor June and July, I was committed to the Index Card A Day Challenge hosted by Tammy Garcia from Daisy Yellow.  And now that I am done, I am creating a new structure for  my making and blogging.  I am not sure what it is just yet but I am excited about the challenge.

I am teaching @ LynnARTS this week.  I have 12 young artists ready to go.  I love to introduce them to bookmaking and printmaking when ever I can.

I don’t usually get to share the gelatin printmaking experience with them, so we do relief printing,  stenciling and other planographic techniques.

Printmaking with Kids

Some of the printmaking projects that I have done with the kids this summer include:

  • a symmetrical stencil – memory game
  • Hand Cut Stenciled – Artist Trading Cards to share
  • Folded monotype butterflies and
  • Textured Rubbings as backgrounds for books

gelatin print, textured rubbing and foam relief print in artist journal by linda germainThese crazy pictures are some rusty inspiration that I found  on the side of the road a few days ago.  I am thinking about rusting some fabric or Rives BFK printmaking paper.  For now they sit and inspire.

And the journal is a recycled book that I did as part of the 21 Secrets class.  You can see my quick video of the book just after I put it together here.  The “Push” rubbing is from a fun piece of metal work from my artist buddy Sandra Golbert.  The wiggly black and blue impression are relief stamps that I made with a cd cover and sticky back foam. Fun and easy!

Another non-gelatin printmaking process that I am enjoying right now is the thermofax screen printing process.  I made a bunch of screens almost a year ago and have not really played with them much.

I used a dragonfly screen and made a few cards.  You can check them out at my Etsy store – StudioGermain.  My shop is new and I hope to add new prints weekly.  So if you like what you see follow my shop and share it with all of your friends.

Happy Printing!