Analogue textures = real, gritty creative expression to elevate your art and mine
Getting lost in the flow with my gelli plate + acrylic paint + a load of old rubbish!
Last week I spent a day in creative flow with my gelli plate, acrylic paint, and what a lot of people would consider to be: complete trash.
By that I mean random bits of bubble wrap, envelopes, packaging, foil wrap, sticker backing, fruit nets, cereal box cardboard, broken bits of toys (wheels, bits of lego), and more. It was a LOT of fun, but more importantly, I made textures and backgrounds I can put to work in my art.
It was the start of the summer holidays in my part of the UK, so after prioritising deadlines and *work I need to keep hidden for now* I’ve been on full-time mum duty.
And one thing we can all joyfully connect on is: getting messy with paint.
I had a huge corner of things collected over recent weeks (months?) that needed to be used up. Experimented with. Caked in colour.
I’m a magpie, collecting the things that most people discard because I can imagine the interesting print or mark it might make. That I can then use in a pattern.
I pick up leaves on the street and save sweetie wrappers and ‘nice’ packaging with interesting cut-out shapes. I keep the excess sticker backing that often seem like the best part.
I get a playlist on (I’ve still got an iPod!), and lay out my supplies and go for it. I wear a grungy old over-sized t-shirt of my husband’s (sorry, not pictured!), and I make my kids wear paint aprons.
I like to use old packaging for some initial prints or ‘tests’ when I’m not sure how things will work out. Or mis-prints from the printer or just any blank paper - thin and waxed paper works really well.
I know I can layer prints over each other if I don’t like them, transforming them into something new, while it *almost* doesn’t matter which colours I use if I keep some layers separated, as I can scan them in and change them digitally. So I work my way through the rainbow!
Working with real paint and making real prints with my actual hands, feels like the best part of being a designer and a creative, going with the flow, listening to music, getting lost in the process.
Editing and manipulating the raw scans afterwards feels like it’s own, equally exciting alchemy. I can do this part as and when, whereas the messy part creates its own energy.
I love it all!
I can spend hours doing both!
I tend to save up the ‘analogue’ work because it takes longer to get set up and then clean up, so I need that time and space. It feels like a treat or reward, after lots of digital work where there’s no ‘workings out’ to see because the process is all invisible, after the fact, once the final file is complete.
A print stays the same, in it’s original form (unless printed over!)
When I pull a great gelli plate print or lean in to the unique textures I’ve made using random bits of collected materials, it’s the best feeling of creative output and artistic expression. It’s art at it’s most raw, when it’s just about experimentation and not the final outcome. At all.
Even the worst prints or ‘failed’ textures can be used in scrapbooks or art journaling or chopped up into a collage.
Nothing is ever wasted, and sometimes I’ll be working on a project and be searching through scans for inspiration and find the best fit in my discarded textures folder. Often, I've forgotten I even made it until I see it again.
Sometimes I’ll pull out the original print from somewhere at the perfect time for it to inspire a new piece of work. I love this process that’s so tangible and real, evermore so in the world of AI art.
I’ve just combined three of the prints - one in each primary colour - and in seconds created this abstract floral relief.
It feels kind of tropical?
It’s oozing with real texture.
And I love it.
It’s not ready to sell or use anywhere without some clean-up and tweaking, but this is how I start to put together my own ‘texture bank’ and archive of work to elevate and differentiate my designs and make it my own.
It serves to inspire me and keep my work invigorated and fresh.
I may only have one or two usable prints that I love.
I may end up with a dozen - or more!
The unpredictable nature of it elevates the whole experience, not just the art. I can make a rainy old day a printing day, or take it outside and revel in the sunshine for a high-energy creativity-fest. And I can involve my children (4 and 7 ) and teach them that anything can be art - even especially rubbish.
Let me know what you think of these prints and my *art-spiration*.
These are exactly the kind of prints and textures I will be sending out every month for paid subscribers, with other resources such as drawings and patterns too.
With full commercial use. No strings. Just a design resource for us all to enjoy.
Tell me what textures you want to see? What art you are creating, what patterns you are designing?
Everything is a pattern, somewhere along the line.
More soon, thanks for reading,
Rebecca