About The Class
"Magical Prints" is an online monotype print making class taught by artist Lydia Rink.
I will show you my complete process of image transfer and you'll learn what supplies you need and how to do magical image transfer prints with your gel plate and magazine pages.
The magical prints class also features an additional bonus lesson, where you'll learn how to create prints for abstract collage work.
So what are you waiting for? Gab your tools and let's print together!
Link to class: https://vimeopro.com/lydiarink/magical-prints Password: READYforPRINTING
Please feel free to join our private Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1739897886110061/
What’s in this PDF: Welcome To Class Supply List What Paper To Use Magazines & Imagery How To Test Magazines Image Transfer With Gel Plate – How I do it How To Test New Paints Bonus Lesson Thank You
Welcome To Class!
Hi there! I’m Lydia and I am super happy to welcome you to “Magical Prints”. It needed so long to put this class together that I’m very excited that we meet here now.
I’m often asked ‘how you do those prints and what is the magic behind?’ This technique is a bit like experimenting. You never really know what you’ll get. It’s always a surprise. But I think that’s the fun part of it.
Please don’t feel frustrated if your prints don’t come out as you wanted to. You can’t really control this process. Sometime the paint dries a bit faster because of the hot weather or sometimes it’s the magazine page that doesn’t work so well. So have fun and play with your paints. And with a bit of luck you’ll get a few good prints.
It seems that I get only perfect prints. But you know what, I do 20 or 30 prints per session and get only a few good ones. And I only show the good ones on Instagram J I have tons of bad ones in my stack. But that doesn’t matter because I use those for my collage work, too.
So, let’s begin and have some fun!
General Things:
• The class is for any and all art levels • You’ll find all needed supplies on the supply list • Every Part has its own video and section in this PDF • Contact me at any time! You can post in the Facebook group, or reach out to me directly via email ([email protected]) I will be doing my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you again for joining me on this creative journey. I look forward to meeting you, seeing your work and making some great prints!
Lydia
Supply List
When I started with this kind of image transfer, I used art supplies I had on hand but over time I found supplies that worked better for this process. So here you will find the stuff that works best for me.
The gel plate:
I have gel plate from Gelli Arts and Gel Press. Both works well. For me size 8x10 inch is a good size because it’s similar to the size of most magazines. But you also can use smaller or bigger ones.
If there is no commercial gel plate available in your country you can create your own.
I found a great recipe for making your own plate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnPv-XrIsXM&t=61s
I tried it and it worked very well.
Acrylic Paint:
I recommend to use acrylic paint artist quality as this kind of paint has more pigments than student quality. For me heavy body paint works best. I like this creamy texture.
I mentioned that not all colors from one brand work equal. The reds sometimes are not as good as the blues and greens. I’m not sure why.
In my videos I use the following paints:
Amsterdam professional series: Indigo, Olive Green
Golden heavy body paint: Quinacridone/ Nickel Azo Gold
Liquitex heavy body paint: Green Gold, Red Orange
Reeves artist paint: Mars Black
Old Holland Cyan Blue, Old Delft Blue, Indigo, Transparent Oxide Red, Quinacridone Red-Orange, English Red, Blood Red
I will show you in the video how I’m testing new colors for the image transfer.
The Brayer:
I use a 6inch brayer from ABIG. This brayer has a very nice wooden handle and it’s easy to clean. But you can use every brayer you have.
The Baren:
This tool is made for block printing and not necessary but very helpful to burnish the back of the paper to pick up the paint from the plate underneath. I use a 4inch baren from Speedball. A Water Bottle and Kitchen Paper Towel:
For cleaning the plate, I use water and paper kitchen towel. I will show you in the video how I use it. Some also use baby wipes.
What Paper To Use:
- Tissue paper: If you know my work on Instagram you know that I like to use tissue paper for image transfer. The tissue is smooth on one side and feels rough on the other side. Both sides work well, but I like to use the smooth side for printing. I buy it in large sheets and cut it down. The tissue paper is 20g/m2 and it’s getting transparent when gluing down.
- Japan paper or rice paper: This paper is also smooth on one side and feels a bit rough on the other side. I use the smooth side for printing.
- You can also use other kind of paper like copy paper, drawing paper, old ledger paper or newspaper. It’s good to use smooth paper that isn’t too absorbent. Otherwise the paper will absorb all your paint on the gel plate and nothing left for the print ;-)
Magazines & Imagery
Magazines:
When I started with the image transfer technique, I bought a few magazines and started testing it.
What I’ve learned: Look for magazines with thicker pages. If the paper is too thin it will crinkle immediately, the paper is absorbing the paint and no image transfer is possible.
If the magazine paper is too thick and glossy, like the magazine cover or Advertisement pages, the glossy varnish prevents the image transfer.
I use Vogue magazines a lot. I tested Vogue magazines from 2004 till the newest ones. And all worked well. When you can’t find this magazine in your country try to find a good paper quality magazine.
I will show you in the video how I’m testing magazines to find out what works for this technique.
I’ll testing glossy pages, matte pages, thin and thick pages.
Find some images with strong color contrast. It’s easier to only use one or two different colors. If you have a color that work well with other magazines use this paint first. I would recommend to use darker colors for testing. Do some test printings to find out if the images from this magazines work well.
Imagery:
I always look for images with a strong color contrast. It’s good to start with black and white images And images that are not too busy.
If you use colored images it’s a bit harder to see if there is a good color contrast.
When you look for images keep in mind that the dark areas in the image will be the visible parts in your print. That means, if you use an image with a dark background and only a few lighter areas in the foreground, your print will be very dark. If you use an image with a white/light background and a girl with dark hair in the foreground, you will see a girl on your print (no background color)
The dark parts in the image will be visible in your print later, the light/white parts disappear.
Image transfer with gel plate – How I do it
We need to work fast so make sure you have all needed supplies ready
- the gel plate - the paints - the brayer - the baren - blank sheets of paper to clean the brayer when you have too much paint on it - the water bottle and kitchen paper towel for cleaning the plate
First the paint. It’s important to use not too much paint. But it should be enough that the paint is still wet when Putting the image down.
Make sure to apply the paint evenly. When you have too much paint on the plate roll your brayer on a blank sheet of paper and come back to your plate.
I roll with the brayer till I see a smooth surface on the gel plate. Take your magazine image, put it on the plate and rub firmly. I use my baren to burnish the back of the paper but you also can use your hand. You need to remove the magazine page before it starts to crinkle.
Remove the image and with no waiting time put your printing paper down and rub firmly.
When you’re using tissue paper, make sure to avoid crinkles when you put the tissue paper down. As those crinkles create white lines on the print.
When the tissue starts to get a bit damp it’s the right time to remove the tissue.
Pull your print. That’s it!
When there is a bit paint left on the plate after pulling the print clean your plate with water and paper kitchen towel.
Or you can use this left paint for a second print. Put a second layer of paint. This should be a lighter one than the first layer. You can also use matte medium for a transparent layer. Put your printing paper down, rub firmly, remove your print. I use such second prints for my collages.
Trouble shooting:
• your print is incomplete and a lot of paint left on the plate after pulling the print è the paint was too dry for taking a print
o put your image down immediately after spreading your paint on the plate
o maybe you used not enough paint, try a bit more
• no imagery shown on the plate after pulling the image, only paint è you used too much paint
o use less paint for your transfer
• no imagery/very little to see on the plate after pulling the image è the magazine doesn’t work
o use another magazine
How to test new paints
I will show you in the video how I’m testing new colors.
When you like to find out which paint works best it’s good to use images from one magazine.
For experimenting it’s good to have the same image/magazine page more than once. I found such pages when I have two or three vogue magazines from one year, the advertisements are often the same. Use similar images with strong color contrast and do a few prints with one color. Then change color and do more prints. That’s a good way to find out which color works best. Bonus lesson:
In this lesson I will show you how I create collage paper. As you know I like to use tissue paper in my collages a lot. So, I always try to find new ways to create interesting paper.
For this lesson I pulled out my giant gel press plate. It’s 12x14 inches but you can use whatever plate size you have, Even the small-scale plates will work for this technique.
The paper should be a bit larger than the plate. For this prints all kinds of acrylic paints work well. If you have lino-print acrylics or cheap craft paint all are fine for this lesson.
I combine similar colors so that the colors don’t get muddy. Some blues and greys Greens and yellows or green and blue Yellow, ochre, golden, orange, red
Spread the color, put your paper down, rub firmly and pull the print.
When there is a bit paint left on the plate after pulling your print, fine! That’s what we want. Spread a new layer of paint, put your paper, rub firmly and pull the print.
Repeat this a few times more.
Change color and do more prints. Do as many as you like This is a good exercise to see what color do you like best and how to combine these colors with other colors.
In the video I will show you what color I combine. You will find videos on my YouTube channel and Instagram feed with examples how I use such prints for my collages.
Bonus Lesson
In this lesson I will show you how I create my collage paper. As you know I like to use tissue paper in my collages a lot. So, I always try to find new ways to create interesting paper.
For this lesson I pulled out my giant gel press plate, it’s 12x14 inches. But you can use whatever plate you like. Even the small-scale plates will work for this technique. I use large sheets of tissue paper, the paper is a bit larger than the plate itself.
We will use different kind of acrylic paints. If you have lino-print acrylics or cheap craft paints, all are fine for this lesson.
I start with similar colors to avoid that the color gets muddy. Good combinations are: - blue and grey - greens and yellow - greens and blues - yellow, ochre, gold, orange, red
It’s like experimenting and letting go. Don’t think too much, just play with your paints.
This is a good exercise to find out what color you like best and how you can combine/mix these colors.
I’m often asked from where I get these letters in my collage work. Some came from old billboard poster but I also do my own. You can use your gel plate and magazine pages to create letters for collage work. The tissue paper is getting transparent when wet/when glued down.
Thank you!
I want to thank you for joining me in my online-class! It means a lot to me. I hope this class has been enjoyable, and contains some takeaways that you can apply to your own work or creative process.
Please use the hashtag: #MAGICALPRINTS2019 when sharing your work
Please do not reproduce this PDF or share the link & password to this class!