Gel Printing - The perfect art for people who think they can't draw
All the creative freedom, none of the pressure.
Hi, and welcome (back) to The Stress Less Pencil. I'm Lorena, and I believe art is for everyone, and everyone's an artist. So are you! Stick around if you want to invite a bit more creativity into your life, no matter whether you think you can draw, or not.
People often tell me that they are interested in the “artsy stuff” I do, but that it's not something they could do themselves, because they “can't draw”. If you've been reading this newsletter for a while, you know my opinion on this. It basically boils down to: “who cares whether you think you can draw? making art makes you feel good, no matter what the result looks like”.
That being said, I totally understand the feeling. I know how daunting it is to face the white page, and how frustrating it is to not be able to transpose the image in your mind onto a canvas.
So this week, I wanted to talk to you about the wonderful art of gel printing. The perfect medium for people who want to create some art, but might be intimidated by the idea of having to draw something.
What is gel printing?
The main ingredient of gel printing is a gel plate, a wibbly-wobbly-slightly-sticky-see-through gel plate, which looks like this:
The gel plate holds on to paint, but lets go of it when the paint comes into contact with paper, because the paint sticks harder to the paper than it does to the plate. This allows you to put different layers of paint onto the plate, and then print the whole thing onto your paper.
Hey wait, I thought we didn't want to paint?! That's where the magic comes in. You can build up your layers with different techniques that don't involve any drawing.
You can:
apply a coat of paint, and then dab it with different materials like bubble wrap or aluminium foil to create different textures.
use stencils to only apply paint to the free areas, creating different forms and shapes.
lift off parts of the paint with objects, paper or card board.
transfer images from magazines and newspaper to re-print photos.
Here's a great little project by Gina from the Shabby Creek Cottage to show you what the whole layering and lifting paint is all about:
The beautiful thing is, the possibilities are endless. You can use different objects to lift off the paint, including flowers and leaves. You can make your own stencils. you can experiment with different paints, like acrylics, watercolour, acrylic markers, and chalk pastels.
On a more advanced level, this is what the amazing Paul aka junkykid does with it:
And over on Youtube, we have Yeates Makes, who is a true master of experimenting with different materials and techniques. You can check out the full video by clicking on the image:
I was a little sceptical about gel plates at first, because the flowery patterns I so often saw just weren't my style. But the more I looked into it - meaning spending hours watching youtube videos and reels - the more I realised just how much you can play, experiment, and make it your own.
My Example
It was this video by Yeates Makes that got me to finally join the gelli cult. He uses corrugated cardboard to create this rough, grungy kind of punk look that I love so very much.
Not only do I love the style, but I also love using the trash around the house to make art. So off I went to the art store to get my very own gel plate.
Armed with my new haul, I sat down to come up with a simple yet badass design. I'm currently obsessed with the DC Comic Nightwing, so I went for the Nightwing symbol combined with Yeates Makes’ cardboard technique.
And holy crap, check 👏 it 👏 out 👏
I'm in love.
Of course, mistakes were made on this first try. I pulled the paper off too soon so it started ripping in some places. But that doesn't even matter, because look how awesome it turned out. 🤩
I'll definitely be printing the hell out of everything for the foreseeable future. Seriously, gives this a go if you can!
Have a happy and artsy week my friends.
Love, Lorena
Although I can draw, that sounds really fun!
So cool