kinda like jello

While the two older girls worked on their mixed media pieces, I had the 8 year old do some monoprints on a gelatin plate I made.   I'm so thrilled with the recipe I was given because I don't have to keep it in the refrigerator and it should last for a very long time! 

A VERY long time!!!

Best. discovery. ever.

And it was quite an interesting thing to an eight year old.  It has a great rubbery texture to it and it took all his restraint to not want to pick it up and wabble it all around but since I'm not quite sure just how durable it really would be in the hands of an eight year old, I quickly set the limitation that it had to stay on the table.

That did not stop him from touching it and picking up the corner and an endless stream of questions of what exactly was this stuff and how did I make it.

Telling him it was made with gelatin and glycerin did not do the trick.

But he seemed content when I told him it was kind of like jello.

Although I'm a little afraid from a couple of his remarks that he might go home and try to make a similar plate with flavored jello since at one point it mentioned something about if we did a flavor plate it would pick up the jello color too.

I probably should call his mom about that.......

Anyhow,  below are the results from his work on the gelatin plate.

First he cut out some shapes.  I had him stick with one shape of his choosing and gave him different material to cut from and asked they be different sizes.

I then gave him a variety of yarn and string.

Finally I put out three different Speedball waterbase inks and Speedball black ink on a piece of plexiglass with a brayer.

He rolled out the first color, put down his shapes, and placed a piece of paper over it then burnished it well with the back of his hand and pulled it off.  I had him put the paper face down and started a stack.

This direction befuddled him as much as wrapping his head around the fact he was printing artwork off something "kinda like jello".

But he went with me and then pulled all the shapes off the plate, laid down a new piece of paper, and again burnished it with his hand and pulled another print of just the shapes that were on the paper.

This led to exclamations of "COOL".

Again a bit befuddled when I told him to lay it face down on top of the first pull.

He did the same thing again with another color and pulled the same two prints.

I would of had him do a third color, but he mentioned he was getting a little tired so I changed gears quickly and had him just work on the first four pulls to completion.

We turned our pile back over and he laid out a second color ink different from the first ink on the pull and laid down his shaped and string again.  Then taking the first printed paper, we did the whole process over.  And then once he pulled off the shapes from the plate, took the second pull from the pile and printed over it again.

Are you following?

Once we finished all four papers, I convinced him to take two and do one more pull with the black.  For this I had him take a piece of copy paper and cut out a large "S".  The first initial of his name.

He then did the whole process again and below are the results.

Oops, almost forgot to mention that the lines you see were stamped with cardboard into the ink prior to laying the shapes down.  This particular print is sideways because he quickly learned the "S" had to be placed on the gelatin plate in reverse in order to print the correct direction.  

One of those "oopsies" that creates a whole new artwork when you problem solve with your imagination.  And looking at this picture I realize I am getting old because my memory has failed.  He actually did do all three colors before the black on this one!  He obviously mentioned he was tired a little after the third color was introduced.  

I hate old age and I love his "oopsie" print.

Below is the "S" laid down in the reverse.  I think this would be very fun displayed on his bedroom door.

I'm not quite sure why my camera read the black as purple, but that is really black- not purple.  Although I really like the purple so maybe next time.......

Here is one of the prints pulled after the shapes are taken off the ink with the original pulls.  You can see why I had him use papers with different textures because in this pull, they really show up.

And the final second pull once the shapes were taken off.  This one I had him leave at the studio so we can create another artwork with it.  Do you see the face within it?  I think it is going to make a very cool cubist work in the end.  I love this monoprint!

I am in love with the gelatin plate.  It's cost effective, long lasting, and the project possibilities are endless.  I can hardly wait for the next class to start so I can use it again!

Who knew "kinda like jello" could be so fun?