Gelli Arts® Gel Printing with Metallic and Glitter Acrylics by Marsha Valk

Hi there! It’s Marsha here today!

Ever wondered if you can use glitter acrylics on your Gelli Arts® gel printing plate?

Are you looking for tips and ideas on how to gel print successfully with metallic or pearlescent paints?

This video is for you!

There are many different types of glimmering and shimmering paint on the market. Which one is best depends on your personal preference and the effects you want to achieve.

You’ll need to try a couple to find out what you like!

Almost all metallic paints are transparent or translucent. This means that anything underneath the print layer is going to shine through.

Shimmery paints tend to look better on top of coloured or darker backgrounds.

You can improve the look of metallic paint on white paper by printing a base coat first and then printing a layer of metallic or pearlescent paint on top.

You can mix metallic paint with solid colours on the plate; however, they’re best paired with colours that have very little or no white pigments in them.

White pigment (PW6) tones down the shimmer (although it’s a bit hard to catch on camera)

Left: with PW6

Right: without PW6

Glitter acrylics tend to have a clear or very transparent base.

Just like with metallic paints, the results are usually a lot better if you start with printing a base coat and then printing a layer of glitter paint on top.

It’s easy to remove stray glitter from your gel printing plate. However, it’s tough to clean off your tools. So before you start printing with glitter acrylics consider how you will be able to clean any glitter-covered tools responsibly afterwards.

If you aren’t sure, choose to work with disposable items like paper stencils and try applying the glitter paint to the gel printing plate with sponges, foam brushes and even pieces of card.

A brayer isn’t the most efficient nor effective tool for applying glitter paints anyway. More glitter ends up on the roller than on the plate.

Remove any leftover glitter from the surface of the gel printing plate before you store it away.

You can do that by pulling prints until all of the glitters are gone or by picking any leftover specks up with a strip of packing tape.

Have lots of fun adding shimmer and sparkle to your Gelli Arts® gel prints!

Marsha

MATERIALS:

5″ x 7″ Gelli Arts® Printing Plate
4” brayer
Mini printing tool
Metallic, pearlescent and glitter acrylics(Jane Davenport, FolkArt, DecoArt, Cadence, Liquitex Basics)
Regular acrylic paints
2” brayer
Paper
Stencils by StencilGirl® Products
Black tissue paper
Art printing plates by Birgit Koopsen for Carabelle Studio
Sponge
Bristle brush
Glossy fashion magazine
Handcut stencils
Clear packing tape