Jen Powell designs

I’m trying to start a habit of using a sketchbook. I have seen that many mixed media artists I admire use a sketchbook to work through ideas and to help inspire their main work, and I would like to use mine regularly for that purpose.

I decided to use a sketchbook page to rework a gel print I had made. I am new to gel printing, but I’m having fun figuring out all the things I can do with it. I was a little hesitant to spend the money on a gel plate when I wasn’t sure if I would use it (I think they run around $25-$30) – so I found a recipe online and made my own gel plate. With the cost of ingredients, it would have been cheaper to just buy one. I do enjoy using it so I think the investment is worth it, if you are on the fence about getting one. I usually sit and have fun making a bunch of gel prints at one time, just experimenting. I have been enjoying how they turn out.

For this particular gel print, I really like how some of the paint marks look like denim, and the color mix that appears on here. I took it and started cutting it up to rework it:

I took the one I had made above and then cut it into 3 pieces. I then cut it again so I had 9 squares, and I rearranged it and glued it into my sketchbook:

I decided to just play around by putting down various marks. I used a large black sharpie to make some large lines:

Then I added some other marks with a small drawing pen:

This was a fun way to use my sketchbook and use some of the many gel prints I have been working with. I tend to work more with fabric but working with paper is a lot of fun too. I plan to do more work like this to help improve my textile art.