Clearly Printed with Gelli®!

Joan Bess / Journals, Cards, Collage, & Tags, Mediums – Alcohol Inks, Pastels, Watercolors, Recycled Materials, Stencils, Patterns & Textures / 500 Comments

Put a twist on your monoprinting experience  — use gel medium instead of paint to create some clearly different Gelli® prints! Watch this video for a clear idea …



Gel medium is essentially acrylic paint without pigment. It goes on milky white and dries clear. We’re making a clear print, which we’ll use as a resist. This technique will work with either gloss or matte. I’m using Golden Regular Gel Gloss Medium— but use what you have and see how it prints.

Take advantage of the transparent medium and create prints on interesting paper! Like … book pages, sheet music, maps, pre-printed paper and so on. Try printing over a handwritten journal page, or your own doodles or stampings. And deli paper will give you wonderful translucent papers to use for layered collage. So many possibilities!

Here’s the process…

1.  Apply the medium to your plate — same as you would with paint — then roll out with a brayer. Create textures and patterns in the gel (just like you would with paint). 

Note:  I’m using some wonderful stencils from StencilGirl! I especially love their designs with large open areas, where I can add additional texture to individualize how the printed pattern will look. To do that, place the stencil onto the painted plate. Immediately place other texture(s) onto the stencil — press gently, then remove.


StencilGirl Stencils

Some good choices for textures to press into open areas in stencils include:  Embossed paper, plastic mesh, crumpled wax paper, cheesecloth, rubbing plates, and punchinella.



2.  Cover with paper, rub to transfer gel medium — and pull a print.

3.  Remove the stencil and quickly cover with fresh paper and pull another print. If there’s enough medium remaining on the plate, this will create an interesting clear ghost print.


The next step reveals the magic in the print! 


4.  Apply a thin wash of color to your dry prints and see what happens! The printed gel resists the wash. What fun! I especially love adding color with Ranger’s Distress Stains!


5.  Wipe the stained print with a damp paper towel. This will remove residual color from the clear areas revealing a bolder pattern with higher contrast.



You’ll find plenty of suggested ways to add color to your clear Gelli® print in the previous blog post, “Are We There Yet“.  If you haven’t read it — or are looking for inspiration — please take a look 🙂

Go ahead and try a “clear” day of printing for a different kind of Gelli® print! And please share your prints on the Gelli Arts® Facebook page!

 

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!

 

Our fabulous prize package includes:  


One lucky winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday – April 22nd and announced here on the blog — and on our Facebook page.



To be entered to win, all you need to do is leave a comment here on the blog or on our Facebook page. All comments must include an email address. 



Want to double your chance to win? Simply subscribe to our YouTube channel and we’ll enter your name twice. If you’ve already subscribed, let us know 🙂



And a special thanks to MaryBeth Shaw, of StencilGirl, for supplying the wonderful stencils!!!



THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!!!!

Good luck — and Happy Printing!

500 thoughts on “Clearly Printed with Gelli®!”

  11. Anonymous

    I tried this on fabric, and it worked. I used the brick type watercolors from CretacolorR instead of distress stains. This was just a play piece that I had dyed and then used bleach to remove some of the color. Then I had screen printed a zebra on it. I used the large circles from Crafter's workshop.com for the resist. As it dries more of the zebra is coming out, should have used lighter colors over screen print.

    Reply
  15. Unknown

    I would LOVE to win this!! I have wanted a Gelli plate for ages, but I have limited funds :-(. I have started teaching art journaling classes at my local craft store and the response has been fantastic. I use stencils and the distress stains and inks,and what fun we have. Thanks for the chance to win something wonderful!!

    Reply
  16. Unknown

    Thank you for the chance to win this wonderful stash of goodies!! I have wanted a Gelli plate for ages but the finances are a bit tight :-(. I have just started teaching art journaling classes at my local craft store and the response has been fantastic! We use stencils and Distress stains and inks, and the wonderful Dylusions Inks too, what fun we have!!! Imagine what things we could do with a Gelli plate :-).

    Reply
  17. Jennifer R.D.

    Oooh, This is a very cool technique to use!
    I would LOVE to win the goodies to use at my Art Camp for kids this summer.
    Hugs,
    Jennifer RD

    Reply
  19. Anonymous

    geonrose@pointroberts.net – really clear directions, amazing colors with the resist technique and the distress stains. No wonder my friends are all going nuts over this product and the stencils.

    Thanks for offering the give-away and the great tutorials. I hope you do really well with the Gelli Plate line.

    Rose in PR

    Reply
  20. huntla1

    I love this technique and I would so like to win this package full of opportunity. Thank you so much for your generosity. huntla1 (at) mac (dot) com.

    Reply
  21. Anonymous

    Ohhhhh I saw all those stencils I have sticky fingers wanting to shop…………so I thought I would try one more time to get on this list. I am trying anonymous this time. Mamie Gehring

    Reply
  22. Anonymous

    Dear Joan, I wish I was not so technically challenged then maybe I could get on board to try and win the gorgeous stencils. Also tell you I love the resists. This is my absolute last time……………Mamie Gehring

    Reply
  24. Mamie G

    Do you see any from Mamie ? Ohhhh no because she cannot figure out how to work to dag gone thing. I am telling you!! I love the resists. I am new to gelli plates, would love to learn more. And winning the stencils would not be so bad either. But really seeing this dag gone blased thing on your board would make me the happiest!!!!!

    Reply
  25. Mamie G

    Well nothing I seem to do gets it on the board. When they say two words do they mean type out the number and the letters? I have done both. I have a new gelli, I would love to learn how to use it. I love your resists and I would not mind winning and now I am using my email!!!! Mamie G

    Reply
  31. B, Skelley

    Wow, what a great technique! Would love to try this with fabric, collage, etc. Thanks for the opportunity to win! richard dot skelley at gmail dot com.

    Reply
  32. Stamped Impressions

    Fabulous idea using gel medium with stencils and Gelli Art Printing plate. Thank you for the opportunity to win these fabulous prizes. (candlelightcreation at yahoo.com

    Reply
  33. Anonymous

    What a great idea. I hadn't thought to use gel mediums with the gelli plate. Now I will have to go try that technique out. It definitely looks like it will be a lot of fun to do. I also subscribed to your you-tube channel. Woo hoo! dlprewitt@hotmail.com

    Reply
  35. kborus

    I would so love to win this prize – the Gelli Arts printing plate has got the be the greatest and most versatile new product out there. I am relatively new to creative arts and can't believe the explosion in ideas since I saw the first monoprints using the plate. From simple color mixing, which was fabulous on its own, to the use of texture and stencils. I want to be part of this!! Thanks for the chance. kaborus@gmail.com

    Reply
  38. marief

    tres belle technique, tout est permis. J'ai un grande plaque mais avec une 6×6 je pourrais faire plus pages .

    Reply
  42. HelenM

    OMG!! How cool! I am taking my first class on gelli prints next Saturday. I can't wait! Thanks for the inspiration!!

    Reply
  43. Anonymous

    Thank you so much for sharing this technique! I'm going to try it – for sure. I don't have any Distress paint or stain, but I have quite a few Distress inks! I'm a new follower on Facebook and YouTube.

    Reply
  48. Unknown

    Some very beautiful art has been created here! I want to learn how to do these techniques.
    Virginia

    Reply
  49. Unknown

    Some very beautiful art has been created here! I want to learn how to do these techniques.
    Virginia

    Reply

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