Gel Printing Part Basics and Supplies

So you’ve decided to have fun with friends and make a mess in the process. Here are what I believe are the essentials for a fun messy time with gel printing.

(Visual List at the bottom of the post!)

*Reminder that I may get a commission for your purchases if you use the following links, at no additional cost to you! Thank you so much if you chose to use them 🙂 You can also just search the names of the items in a search engine.

Needed for Printing

A Gel Plate. This sounds obvious but there can be so many to choose from that it can get overwhelming! It can also be fabulous but expensive to collect all the fun shapes haha. What I recommend is a 5×7 or 8×10 gel plate. These below are Class packs / Party packs that give a great price point if you are having a gathering up to 10 people.

Blick Arts – these are for the 11 pack (you and ten friends!) of 5×7″ gel plates from Gelli arts. It is a great beginner size, you can make prints ready to hang or pieces for other projects!

A Brayer. This is the device used to spread a thin layer of paint onto your plate so you can make magic! They come in a variety of sizes and it all comes down to how you work! I use a 4 inch soft rubber speedball brayer. I have sizes ranging from 2″ to 4 inches. For a 5×7″ plate I would say a 3 or 4 inch would work well! You need one per participant.

Blick Arts – The Blick link shows all the size options available, choose the quantity and size wanted!

Acrylic Paint. Although you can use a multitude of mediums (oh the possibilities!!!) I always suggest to start off with a medium body or student grade acrylic paint.

I like the Liquitex Basics line because it can be found pretty inexpensively (compared to other brands) and the consistency is perfect for learning to gauge how much paint you need for your pull! I suggest a large white tube and a large black tube. Other colors can be in their regular sizes.

LARGE WHITE LIQUITEX BASICS – Blick Arts
LARGE BLACK LIQUITEX BASICS – Blick Arts
REGULAR TUBES OF COLOR – Blick Arts

The Goodies!

This portion of the post will continue to get updated, but I will put basic links below to the stores I tend to get my “goodies” from. My favorites are patterned stencils, Masking sets with large spaces, and red rubber stamps in bold shapes.

FOR SOME VISUAL BROWSING OF MY FAVORITE STENCILS AND STAMPS BY STORE:
Ranger // Joggles // Scrapbook.com

Some of my favorite stencils come from the Dylusions line at Ranger Ink Industries. They have great patterns, and funky silhouette shapes as well. Dina Wakley also has some great stencils for shapes to cut out and mark making!

Favorites Include: [Silhouettes w masks] Maisie // Martha [Patterns] Large Quilts // Medieval Cross // Fresh Dots

Dina Wakley’s line at Ranger Ink also has great red rubber stamps! They are great for adding textures and pulling off paint from your gel plate. Bonus is they can be used with ink after your print is pulled to add additional details once youu are on to your next steps!

Favorites Include: Text and Scribbles // For the Love of Circles // Circle Patterns

This list will grow in time, items I’ve used in projects that have a matching blogpost can be found on the individual posts as well!

The Most Important Thing…

Is to bring your imagination and curiosity! Sounds cliche, but the best part of gel printing is the exploration of the techniques and mediums. It is in the not knowing exactly how it will pan out, but knowing that it will be wonderful any way it turns out.

And of course, HAVE FUN!

VISUAL GUIDE BELOW (Affiliate links to Blick Arts)