How To Create Posters With Gelli Arts® Gel Printing Plates

Hi there! It’s Marsha here today, showing you how you can create your own eye-catching posters that include text to help get your message across!

Think
about all the fun possibilities: print a poster with motivational text to hang in your
home, office, or classroom. Create party signs, make the advertisements for an
upcoming event, or just commemorate words that mean something special to you
personally!

Step
1

Use
your favorite gel printing tools to pull a couple of light-colored background
prints.

Place
the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate of your choice on a smooth flat surface. I’m
using the 9”x12” plate which is perfect for bleed prints on A4 and Letter size
papers.

Roll a drop (or two) of acrylic paint on the plate with a brayer.

Here I’m using foam stamps as my texture tool. Press the stamp into the paint. Stamp the excess paint off onto a scrap sheet of paper.

Place
your paper on top of the plate and rub with your hands to transfer the paint to
the paper. Lift the paper.

Clean foam stamps immediately after use. Wipe the stamps with a damp cloth or rinse them under running water. Don’t let paint dry on your stamps.

Step
2

Think
about what you want your posters to say. Decide on the words: a quote, a slogan
or maybe a song title. Write it out on paper.

Think
about the composition too. Do you want just the words to fill the poster or do
you also want to incorporate a graphic element?

Step
3

Cut
out the letters.

Handwritten
and hand-cut letters will make your poster uniquely you, but I’ve also found
that letters cut from paper often stick to the gel printing plate so you may
need to re-adhere them to your paper after each pull.

There
are alternative options though! You can cut your letters from low tack stencil
film instead of paper, you can write out your text with masking fluid, or you
can use alphabet stickers.

Step
4

Position
the letters of your choice on one of the light-colored background prints. Use
repositionable adhesive to adhere hand-cut letters to the paper.

When
using stickers, make sure to remove some of the stickiness before you adhere
the letters to the paper. Merely placing the sticky side on a lint-free cloth
before sticking them down will do the trick.

Step
5

Start
printing layers!

Try
to limit your color palette to a maximum of four colors including black and/or
white. Use all of your favorite gel printing tools such as hand-cut masks, stencils,
stamps, and mark makers.

Add
as many printed layers as you like. The aim is to make all of the letters stand
out, so cover at least the area around the letters and be sure to use colors
that contrast with your light-colored background.

Step
6

End
with a layer in the darkest paint color to make the words on the poster pop.

Step
7

Wait
until the paint on your poster is dry and then lift the letter masks from the
paper.

Remove
any adhesive residue by rubbing with your fingers or use an adhesive eraser.

Optional

Use
your favorite pencils, pens, and markers to enhance your prints. Add drop
shadows or outlines if you feel the letters need a bit more help standing out.