A small angry planet

Description

A small angry planet is a monotype gel print. I made it in my usual fashion of building up layers. As I add each layer, I am directly responding to what I see in front of me. I rarely have an end product in mind.

This print has been in two open exhibitions. It is currently on display in the Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition at the Victoria Gallery in Bath, so is not available to buy.

The print is about 30 cm square, in a mount to fit a 50 cm x 50 cm frame. These are readily available online or in stores.

The making of this image began during lockdown, when in an extended creative burst I made a large series of colourful abstract monotype prints.

This intuitive approach to creating the image was new to me. It widens the scope of the art to become a record of a journey as much as an object in itself. It was an accidental discovery after I began using a gel plate, rather than a conventional press.  I have continued to work in this way ever since.

The title comes from a Science Fiction novel, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, by Becky Chalmers

(The link is to Amazon. Amazon links have a habit of breaking, so I have used a Tiny URL link. The Amazon link includes an Associates Code, which gives me a small commission if you buy via the link. If you don’t want to use it, a search for the title will take you to the bookseller of your choice.)

What is a gel print?

Monotype prints in general are made by drawing or painting on a smooth, non-absorbent surface. This surface, sometimes called the matrix, was historically a copper etching plate. In contemporary work, acrylic sheet the matrix is often acrylic sheet.

Whichever approach is taken, the image on the matrix is transferred onto a sheet of paper by pressing the two together. This usually requires a print press.

The specific process I used for this print was gel printing (or Gelli, but this is a trademark). The matrix in this case is a soft synthetic gel.

I apply the paint to the gel sheet with rollers or brushes. I can control this with masks or stencils, or draw into the paint and create textures in various ways. I repeat the process until I’m happy with the image.

Some of my prints made this way have over 20 separate full or partial layers. The nature of the process allows for both intense bright colours and  subtle variations in colour, as well as tangible physical texture.