Gelli® Cubes

While I love making prints on paper with my Gelli Arts® plates and making books, I also love creating blocks from dried acrylic paints either left over or painted specifically for removing with tape.  Sounds confusing?  Yes, but really simple.

Here's how I do it.
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I pour a few dots of different color acrylic paint onto a Gelli Arts 12" x 14" plate, brayer it so the paint covers the entire plate, add some surface texture (bubble wrap, etc) and let it completely dry.  Sometimes, that only takes an hour or so, depending on the paint, and sometimes, I leave it overnight.

The solid wooden blocks I prefer measure 1-1/2" since that is also the size of my packing tape although I have also made 1" blocks and 3" blocks.

First, I paint all sides of the blocks with white gesso.  But if you prefer a more rustic/organic look, you could leave them natural brown.

Once dry, I paint one side of the block with white glue (I use Elmers).  I lay the packing tape down on the Gelli plate and pick up the dried paint.  I put the tape onto the glue and press down.  I trim off the excess tape with a utility knife and continue adding tape to each side of the cube.  

Here are some closes up of a couple more cubes.

I hope you try this and have as much fun with this technique as I do!