For the final installment of my 100 day project recap I’ll be covering my gelatin printing and work that came from that, over the 100 days
From the get go, I’ve been working with my own hand cut paper stencils on the gelatin plate. I want the resulting work to be mine alone. Part of my interest in cutting comes from 7 years doing paste up at the local newspaper. I just may have been told I have a way around an Xacto knife! For a while I tried some acetate, but I think the fact that the plastic is non-porous, just resulted in prints I wasn’t too crazy about. Now I stick exclusively to paper or cardstock, but mostly paper. I’ve been printing for a few years now and still have all the stencils I’ve cut. The first few prints using a new cut stencil are very sensitive and fragile and could tear easily, but after you build up some coats of ink or paint, it makes the stencil stronger and stronger. I haven’t had to retire any yet!
Whenever I’m working on gelatin prints, the stencils will get new layers of color, so they are ever changing. As I flip through the folder I keep them in, I’ll notice beautiful compositions of color and pattern in the layers. I’ve been keeping a collection of these captured images at #robayrestencilstack It is my hope some day to permanently adhere some of these, and either incorporate them into other work, or make them their own Art pieces. The only problem is that it means I’d have to remove them from my usable collection, and/or cut new ones to use again.
scraps from collage cuttings
Pushing paper around
Always gluing some down into little art books
I put together some collections to make some letter writing stationery set headers, using the gelatin printed papers
I just love how these two sets came out, a color version that comes with handmade envelopes from original prints available in my shop here, and
and a black and white set that comes with gray envelopes available in my shop here
That wraps up coverage on the 100 day project, whew! Read the other installments First part, Second part, Third part, Fourth part
WOW – So much beauty!! I don’t think I realized you were using paper stencils over and over. Feeling inspired to try stencils. <3