Hello everyone, Giovanna here! In this video, I’ll show you an unusual material to gel print on.
Out of curiosity, I picked up a piece of air-dry black clay. After making a couple of bowls, I had one big chunk left and wondered what to do with it. Then I thought, why not try gel printing on it?
The technique is really simple! I created a couple of wonky tiles, some lovely earrings, and two pendants—just using fallen leaves I found during my morning walk.
To gel print on black clay, I used opaque paints in gold and white. This technique also works beautifully on white clay with any shade of acrylic paint.
Enjoy!😊
Watch the YouTube tutorial here: https://youtu.be/2rCWq7N7L1g
Step by step:
– Roll a piece of clay (you can use the same brayer used to gel print!)
– Use a piece of cardstock or a dish as template (square, round or any shape you like)
– Cut the shape out using a palette knife
– Spread a nice layer of paint on the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate with a brayer
– Lay a leaf on the plate
– Press some copy paper
– Lift the leaf and press gently the clay on the plate
– When the clay is still soft you can fix the shape or lay the clay on a dish to shape as bowl
– Add a frame all around with a dotting tool
– Let it dry at least for 24 hours
-Add details with paint markers or you can use a charcoal pencil and smudge it a bit
Materials:
-Gelli Arts® 6″x6″ Gel Printing Plate
-Acrylic Paint
-Dried or Fresh Leaves
-Black or White “Air Dry Clay” ( Be aware that clay shrinks when drying. If you don’t want the clay to curl at the edges or warp, dry slowing with something heavy on top. If you want to fire the clay, use the same process and swap out acrylic paint for ceramic underglaze. Do a bisque firing and a glaze firing after if you want a shiny and impermeable surface.)
-Brayer
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These instructions should identify the clay as air dry clay. Be aware that clay shrinks when drying. If you don’t want the clay to curl at the edges or warp, dry slowing with something heavy on top. If you want to fire the clay, use the same process and swap out acrylic paint for ceramic underglaze. Do a bisque firing and a glaze firing after if you want a shiny and impermeable surface.
Thank you for the suggestion! We will add this information.