Beginner Gel Press Printing: Foam Stamps

Last week I started my journey of learning how to use a gel press printing plate. I learned a few things which I then attempted to apply to this week's project while adding in the use of foam paint stamps. I have an extensive collection of foam stamps that I used to use to make homemade wrapping paper.


I laid out a silicone craft mat and grabbed my gel press, some paint brushes, craft paint, a brayer, foam paint stamps, and some card stock sheets cut in half. Last week, I learned that regular paper gets wet and becomes easy to tear pretty quickly, so I decided to use some card stock for this week's project.


I painted a light coating of craft paint onto my gel plate to start. I learned that lighter coats of paint worked better than heavy coats with the craft paint. Next I grabbed a foam stamp and used it to press across the plate.


The stamp lifted some of the paint off of the press and created a pattern.


I laid my piece of cardstock onto the painted press. Then I used a brayer to make sure the paper got good contact with the paint.


Then I peeled the paper back to reveal the pattern.


After letting the first print dry for a little bit, I added another layer to the gel plate. This time I tried applying the paint to the stamp and stamping it on the plate.


I applied the painted paper onto the press again to add layers to the print.


As layers are added, any remaining paint left on the gel press will transfer too.


After a bit of playing around I learned the the stamps worked best when used to lift the paint off of the press.


For this one I painted a light coat of purple and then used a single large dragonfly stamp to lift paint off of the gel press plate.


But, since I started with a dark color, it was hard to layer other patterns over top.


After playing around with the stamps and paints, I learned that starting with lighter colors and using the foam stamps to lift paint off the press worked the best with the thin craft paint. The card stock paper worked much better with the craft paint and didn't tear as I was layer paints. I still have a long way to go to learn all of the tricks and techniques with these gel press plates, but I feel like I'm making some progress.


 

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