Gel Plate Painting & Printmaking by Juan Camilo
If you have stopped into one of our locations lately, you might have noticed the hand-made postcards or the smaller works of art throughout both locations at 105 Fitzpatrick and 291 Front St (inside the Shops at Mallory Square). These small works of art are technically considered “mono-prints” and are created using a gel plate printing / painting method by Juan Camilo. These artworks are created by painting directly on the gel plate and then transferring the art from plate to medium, which is mostly 300gm fine art paper. The term “mono-print” comes from the fact that only one (mono) artwork can be made per transfer attempt, so each mono-print is a unique, one-of-a-kind, artwork.
Original gel plate postcard by Juan Camilo 2024.
Key West Inspired Postcards
Mono-printing and this way of creating art can be compared to linocut printmaking processes like a stamp, except, there is no carving into the plate and the gel plate can be used over and over again. A linocut is a type of relief, or block print, and has a lot of similarities to woodblock printing. By using gel plates of various sizes, Juan Camilo is able to create artworks that feel and look like acrylic paintings presented in a printmaking format. These artworks have the durability of printmaking with the unique feel of hand-painted art.
Juan Camilo is continuously expanding and evolving his unique way of creating artworks with the ultimate intention of teaching others this fun and exciting way to create small sized works of art. This goal and other future gel plate projects will be made possible by the Anne McKee Artist Fund as Juan Camilo won the visual arts grant provided by the local Key West institution that supports artists of all forms on the island.
Juan Camilo pulling the gel plate off the fine art paper.
Stop in to one of our locations to see Juan Camilo work on his gel plate mono-print process as he captures unique, one-of-a-kind impressions of old Key West by layering acrylic paint that allows him to create textured, vibrant images inspired by the island that cannot be exactly replicated nor duplicated.
