Gelli Printmaking: Blending into the Circus

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Blending into the Circus 6×6 Gelli Print Monotype with watercolor & colored pencil
The last time I posted about using gelli monotypes as a background for mixed media, I had an idea in mind when I started the portrait. This time, I let the patterns and shapes in the print suggest the subject, and the monotype turned into a cautious girl, at a circus near a pot of red flowers. Random, I know, but it was fun. The process shots begin below, and the art is listed in my Etsy shop here. If you’re unfamiliar with gelli printing (no press!), see the video by the makers of the little plate I used below too. Happy art-making!
Adding the last layers of colored pencil
Finished with the figure, and penciling in the shape of circus tents
Looking for suggestions in the monotype, I found a little face
The gelli print I started with

If you’ve never heard of/played with gelli plates, here is a 2 minute video on youtube, showing some of the textures and layering you can get without a press:  (If you can’t see the video window below, you can watch it here.)

Art Quote
Seriously, I think it is a grave fault in life that so much time is wasted in social matters, because it not only takes up time when you might be doing individual private things, but it prevents you storing up the psychic energy that can then be released to create art or whatever it is. It’s terrible the way we scotch silence & solitude at every turn, quite suicidal. I can’t see how to avoid it, without being very rich or very unpopular, & it does worry me, for time is slipping by , and nothing is done. It isn’t as if anything was gained by this social frivolity, it isn’t: it’s just a waste.
~Philip Larkin

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