Gelli Plate Printing
Gelli plate printing is an exhilarating and unpredictable art form that offers a unique experience. Each print is a surprise, making it a delightful journey into the world of art. This technique belongs to the long tradition of monoprinting, where you create one impression at a time, unlike using a repeating block or screen. The gel plate itself has its roots in a 19th-century printing method called hectography, which utilized a gelatin surface to transfer ink for making copies long before the advent of photocopiers. In the early 2010s, the modern soft gel printing plate, known for its flexibility, reusability, and ease of cleaning, gained widespread popularity and quickly captivated the art and craft world.
The basic process of Gelli plate printing is remarkably simple. You roll a thin layer of acrylic paint onto the gel plate using a brayer, then press a sheet of paper onto the surface. After peeling the paper away, you reveal the unique print you’ve created. The soft, slightly tacky surface of the gel plate captures texture and transfers color in unexpected and intriguing ways. It holds impressions from various objects, such as leaves, lace, bubble wrap, crumpled plastic, stencils, and found objects, resulting in no two prints being identical.
What truly sets Gelli printing apart is its ability to create layered prints. After pulling your initial print, you’ll find that the gel plate still holds paint. By placing another sheet of paper on the plate, you can create a ghost print, which is softer and more atmospheric than the first. As you continue to build layers with different colors and textures, the prints develop a profound depth, resembling the appearance of translucent veils of color. Stencils can be used to mask areas or add sharp graphic elements against the fluid, painterly background. The combination of control and chance in Gelli printing makes it an incredibly captivating art form, as you set the conditions, but the gel plate takes the creative process in unexpected directions.
Gelli prints are robust enough to stand alone as finished artworks, and they also serve as exceptional material for collage. Tear them, cut them, or layer them—the diverse textures and colors harmonize beautifully with other papers and media. Many artists utilize Gelli-printed sheets in the same manner as painters use a palette, creating a collection of printed papers to draw inspiration from in their other work.
At Black Rock Art Ranch, we offer a wide range of Gelli plates in various sizes, high-quality acrylics from Liquitex and Golden, a diverse selection of stencils, and brayers in multiple sizes. Additionally, we provide custom stencils that can be precisely cut using our Cricut Explorer. If you have a specific shape or pattern in mind, we can cut it accurately and use it the same day.
Join one of our classes and immerse yourself in the captivating world of this intriguing medium.