Gelli Arts® — Collage on Wood using Solvent Ink Pads

Hi there! It’s Marsha here today to show you a way to use your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate with something new — Solvent Ink Pads. I won’t be using acrylic paint or a brayer! 🙂

I love stamping, and my most used ink is StazOn, a solvent-based ink that is permanent, fast-drying, and suitable for many different surfaces.

Solvent ink can be used on the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate too. You may need to use a drop of baby oil to clean it off your plate and it may leave stains, but any discoloration will not affect the performance of your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate at all.

Though the ink dries fast on the paper you print on, it doesn’t dry that fast on the gel printing plate. Which means you can use the longer open time to your advantage.

I love to use solvent ink on wood, plastic, and glass. I especially like that any prints I make with solvent ink are 100% waterproof.

I’ve chosen to work on a 5.9″ x 7.87″ wood panel and I’m printing with the 3″ x 5″ Gelli Arts® gel printing plate mounted on an acrylic block.

Please note that you do not need a store-bought wooden panel. You can also use a sheet of chipboard or, if you like the look of woodgrain, plywood or a scrap of wood with a smooth, flat surface would also work.

Step 1:

Start by placing your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate on your acrylic block. Apply solvent ink to your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate by tapping the pad onto your plate.

Place a stencil on top and remove any ink from the openings using a sheet of paper.

Lift the paper. Leave the stencil in place and apply a different color of ink in the openings of the stencil.

Lift the stencil and press the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate inked side down on your substrate (in this case it is my wood). Lift the gel printing plate.

Repeat with different color combinations until you are happy with the results.

Step 2:

Seal the prints and the wood with a layer of gloss medium. I’m using a gloss medium that doubles as a varnish. As an alternative, you could use decoupage glue.

Leave the wood panel to dry completely.

Step 3:

Place the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate of your choice on a smooth flat surface. In this step, I’m using the 8″ x 10″ Gelli Arts® gel printing plate.

Take a stack of printer paper and/or deli paper to make a bunch of collage prints.

Apply solvent ink to your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate by tapping the ink pad onto your plate. Make sure you don’t see any harsh lines from the edges of the ink pads.

Place a stencil on top of the gel printing plate and remove the ink from the openings using a sheet of paper.

Lift the paper and the stencil to pull a print on another sheet of paper. Or, apply a different color of ink in the openings of the stencil, lift it, and pull a print.

Most times there is enough ink left on the plate to pull a second, and sometimes even a third, print.

Repeat the process until you have a nice stack of collage prints to choose from. Remember to clean the plate with a drop of baby oil whenever you want to use a different color.

Step 4:

Sketch your focal image.

Step 5:

Trace the sketch onto your collage paper using a (colored) pencil.

Step 6:

Cut out the image. Erase any pencil marks that are left over on the image. Cut out any accessories or details that you want to add to the main image too.

Step 7:

Adhere the details to the main shape before you adhere the entire image to your panel.

I’m using regular white glue to adhere my details, and I’m using gloss medium under and on top of the entire image to adhere it to the wooden panel.

Make sure the image is adhered entirely flat. You do not want to leave any visible air pockets.

Leave the image to dry completely.

Step 8:

Use colored pencils or paint markers to add finishing touches like outlines, shadows, and doodles. You can also add more collage elements.

Set the panel aside. Once all the adhesive has had a chance to dry thoroughly, it’s time to find your Gelli Arts® gel printed mixed media collage panel a spot in your home!