Gelatin Printing
A series of mixed-media paintings using a printing process with acrylics on a gelatin plate, and finished with chalk pastel.
The process I use for these begins with a printing technique where acrylic paint is applied to a gelatin plate. “Applied” is a nice, clean word. The reality is much messier, as I smear paint all over the plate with gloved hands, then draw into it with my fingers to create patterns and textures. I apply more paint using brushes, scraps of cloth, flowers, leaves, you name it, until I like where the painting is going. (Think back to when you used to play in the mud and make mudpies, this is probably closer to what this process is like!) It is very messy and very fun!
“Waterfall 3” ©2014 Penny O’Halloran, all rights reserved
Other than choosing a color palette, many times I don’t have a big plan ; I just start to play and see where it goes. A few years ago I did a whole series of waterfalls, so starting with that in mind, I kept the paint fresh but worked in some abstract waterfall areas. As soon as I have an interesting composition and I like the movement of colors, I stop. This is important. I can’t count how many paintings I’ve ruined at this stage by overworking the paint.
“Dreaming of Monet’s Pond” ©2018 Penny O’Halloran, All rights reserved
Because the process is messy and cleanup is extensive, I spend a whole afternoon and do about 10 to 15 paintings at a time. I hang them up to dry and then look at them objectively for awhile. Out of a run of 15, I’ll normally get 3 or 4 that have potential; the rest are either used as backgrounds in my art journal, or recycled and I paint over them in the next run. Of the ones I continue to develop, I’ll begin to see an image, the way you do when you stare at abstract patterns on ceramic floor tiles or wallpaper.
At this point I start to paint for real, leading the painting in the direction I’d like it to go. NOTE: Anyone who paints knows that paintings tend to have a mind of their own; I don’t argue too much and let things go where they want to. Often, the paint makes unpredictable and beautiful patterns as the paper is pressed onto the plate and I try to retain as much of that as possible, working it into the final composition.
Starry Waterfall had an interesting Van Gogh quality in the patterns in the sky, shown below just after it came off the plate and is hanging to dry.
Starry Waterfall, drying after initial printing
Shown here with the addition of mountains and the beginning of rocks, using acrylic paint and touches of pastel in the mountains:
Adding mountains and rocks with acrylic and pastels
Several more sessions in the studio with paint and pastels and Starry Waterfall is done:
“Starry Waterfall” ©2017 Penny O’Halloran, all rights reserved
After the painting takes shape, I make the finishing marks with soft chalk pastels, keeping the marks loose and to a minimum. I think in terms of “What is the smallest mark I can make to finish this piece?” I love the raw quality of that initial painting, and I try to keep that freshness as I work.
This painting is a good example of the patterns left behind as the paper is lifted off the gelatin plate–note the blue-on-blue ripples in the water.
“Lilies on the Pond” ©2014 Penny O’Halloran, all rights reserved