It's pretty simple science. The more fluid the paint, the higher the water content. The newer the gelli plate, the more oils. Oil and water don't mix. The oils from the plate push the water carrying the pigment and create the "lacy" effect. You don't need to dry out your plate. For the initial prints just use a higher density paint like a regular body acrylic from the tube until the oils are driven back into the plate and the excess that floats on top is eventually removed. THanks for your videos.
Advice please! I’ve just bought two square plates. My initial prints on both have lines on, not a lacy effect (I’m thinking from the brayer). What am I doing wrong? I am a complete beginner.
I'm a newbie, and learning so much from your videos. I have been using an old thesaurus to clean off my brayer, and it makes great collage fodder... a new colour and pattern every page and sometimes the random words it highlights add an edge to collage work.
Thanks for this video. I ordered my plate and should have it tomorrow. My 8-year-old granddaughter and I watched your other videos and want to give gel printing a try. She likes to draw and paint and wants to make prints for her backgrounds.
When my paint is thick, I add liquitex or Goulden liquid matte medium to thin it...with Goulden paint you can add up to 100% without losing the intensity of the color. I learned this from my class in CVP. This can also thin opaque paint so that you have a glaze. The paints that have less pigment will lose some of their color when you thin them. Hope this helps.
Great video. I normally do fluid art but have started to get into mixed media and collage work. I just got my first gelli plate a couple of days ago and now I know how to break it in. I'm going to open it up and put paper on both sides and try to get the oil off before using it. Thank you, I just subscribed to your channel!! ❤
Very much enjoyed this Susan. I remove acetate covers immediately and place plate between copy paper (bottom and top) and I never change the copy paper, so that it becomes a bit oily, which I think is good for the plate when in storage. I love the Ranger brand gel plate storage tins for storing my plates (up to 8x10 that is.)
I had a smaller plate that I kept the acetate covers on and that damaged the plate. I love the idea of using the same paper as it gets a bit oily. Thanks for sharing that.
@@SusanCliftonArtist You betcha! I also called Gelli Arts (they are so helpful) and they also said use copy paper. I save the acetate sheets to make stencils out of. But you would love the Ranger tins, I love mine. P.S. When one of your new videos pops up you can hear me say "Oh, goodie" out loud, to no one in particular :)
Should you use copy paper as well as storing in the ranger tin? thanks for helping a newbie out - I'm off to take the acetate plates of my new gelli plates.. @Brooksk818 @@KathyBrooksArt
@@KathyBrooksArt Gelli Arts is recommending storing their plates between sheets of paper, but I don't think those instructions are part of their packaging.
@I-Like-Pretty-Shiny-Things You don't have to use copy paper if you store your gel plates in the Ranger tins, but you certainly could. I like the tins, but they are not big enough for the 9x12 gel plate. I store my 8x10 and smaller plates in the tins without paper. I store my 9x12 plate between sheets of Pacon/Ucreate drawing paper in its (damaged 😢) clamshell. I'd like to have a tin for it.
I had the same issue with my first attempt recently. I thought it was because I had used some pouring paint which had reacted. I abandoned it and used acrylic tubes. Glad to know that it wasn’t the case. Thankyou for this video. It was so useful.
This is exactly the same paint I used on my first gel press yesterday, colour and all! To be honest, I now wish I'd taken advantage of the uniqueness it created with the lacing. Ahh all part of the learning journey I'm enjoying.
Thanks for your video. I like the nice grid pattern you put underneath. Seems very helpful for positioning paper. Is it a cutting board for fabric? What is its surface like? Do you cover it with some transparent sheet of some sort?
I love the ‘lacing’ effect. Unless of course I’m going after a smooth solid either opaque or transparent. In fact, I oil my plate so I can get that ‘lacing’ effect. I use both commercially and homemade plates.
@@SusanCliftonArtist you can customize the handmade plates, size, shape and thickness. Great for more freeform abstract work. Longevity, they are not as sturdy as the commercial made, and will breakdown after awhile. However, you can melt them down and reform them. Ta-da! When I need a more traditional ‘offset’ print, the commercial made one is preferred.
How do you store your plates after the first few weeks? The paper covering the plates no longer looks "oily". Thank you again for clear easy to follow videos.
Golden Fluid acrylics are usually sold in art supply store. But Amazon also carries them. ❤️Golden Fluid Titan Buff amzn.to/3KCNSSZ . Thanks for watching.
I use the Mylar setting on the Explore 3 and use more pressure. A cereal box is pretty thick so not sure what you should use. You might need the deep cut blade. I'm not much of a Cricut expert. I use it just for stencils and nothing else.
one of the ingredients of acrylic paints is distilled water, you do not have to let your paint dry out or throw it away. a few drops of water at a time, then see how it is. you can get it back to normal with patience.
Susan, I have a new plate and have never used one. This is a big help! Wondering if an "unseasoned" plate has troubles with magazine transfers? I tried even using the recommended magazines ( Vogue ), different paints, and even a laser print off, and I haven't been able to transfer. Not enough or too little paint, pressure, etc. ? I've watched the videos I could find, but nothing seems to explain it except the need to season the plate. Would love input!
magazine transfers are tricky. I don't have a lot of experience with them. I find they are hard to do and I don't like to waste my paint. Plus it doesn't fit with my style of art. I have seen videos where people use color laser prints that have been double printed and they say that works. I don't have a color laser printer so I haven't tried that. I had a little success with a black toner laser printer but I wouldn't say it was perfect. I suggest you learn how to do gel prints normally first and get the hang of it before you try to do the magazine prints. Best of luck.
I rather like the 'lacing' pattern, it's temporary with a new plate. I've heard storing the gel plate with plain paper on top is preferable to using the plastic sheet. I also find a layer of baby oil cleans stubborn marks and is quickly absorbed into the gel plate and no lacing results!! Loved that ghost pull too!
I did see it mentioned somewhere ages ago which is why I tried storing it with paper but since I've seen other that warn not to do it. I agree sometimes you want a lacing pattern. I did a video using high flow paint and got lots of lacing and they were beautiful prints.
I’ve had my Gelli plates for several months and they get a lot of use. The only time I’ve ever gotten the lacy effect is when I use the pourable paints.
Do you mean the paint that is formulated for Acrylic Pour Art? Or just Fluid paints. I found that if I use fluid paints on a new plate I get a lot of lacing. At the time of getting my first gelli plate that was all I had. It was very frustrating. I learned to buy creamier paints for the plate. I still prefer painting with fluids.
I didn't think Dawn would be good for a gel plate because it strips oils from things. But I looked it up and Gelli Arts recommends Dawn after you use baby oil to clean the plate. So try it. Thanks, your question made me look it up.
You can always use baby oil on the plate. Also the thinner the paint the more lacing. I did a video on using Golden highflow paint which is almost like ink. You get a lot of lacing with that paint. But it was a cool effect.
I'm not sure. What brand of paint are you using? If you do very thin layers of paint it shouldn't be hard. The chalky-ness might be the brand of paint.Try putting a layer of gloss medium over it.
I don't think so. I use baby wipes to clean the plate but I don't think it removes the oils. You don't want to remove all the oil. Just enough to get the paint to adhere. I do have videos on cleaning both the plates and brayers. For the brayer I soak in Murphys Oil Soap.
I gel print alot. What I do is take an old wash rag (thin is good) cut in half, get damp, keep in a small bowl on my table. Inbetween, while waiting for paper to dry on the plate I clean my brayer with damp paper towel and then the damp wash cloth. I keep my brayers very clean this way. I almost never have to soak my brayers any longer. When I do soak them, I use Murphy's Oil Soap and water in a small container, about 8 parts Water to 1 part Murphy's, or simply water with a dollop of Murphy's.
Ranger makes great tin flat storage containers perfect for gel plate storage. I have three of them. They will hold up to 8x10 plates. They are running about 8.99 USD currently. I love mine. If you type into your browser 'Ranger Gel Plate Storage Tin" it will come up.
It's pretty simple science. The more fluid the paint, the higher the water content. The newer the gelli plate, the more oils. Oil and water don't mix. The oils from the plate push the water carrying the pigment and create the "lacy" effect. You don't need to dry out your plate. For the initial prints just use a higher density paint like a regular body acrylic from the tube until the oils are driven back into the plate and the excess that floats on top is eventually removed. THanks for your videos.
Thanks for your insight.
That does make a lot of sense.
Advice please! I’ve just bought two square plates. My initial prints on both have lines on, not a lacy effect (I’m thinking from the brayer). What am I doing wrong? I am a complete beginner.
@@paulettesheard9186I have the same issue! We are heavy handed! You have to do it very lightly.
My homemade gel plate never did any lacing
I'm a newbie, and learning so much from your videos. I have been using an old thesaurus to clean off my brayer, and it makes great collage fodder... a new colour and pattern every page and sometimes the random words it highlights add an edge to collage work.
That's a great idea. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for this video. I ordered my plate and should have it tomorrow. My 8-year-old granddaughter and I watched your other videos and want to give gel printing a try. She likes to draw and paint and wants to make prints for her backgrounds.
That’s wonderful. I hope you both enjoy it.
When my paint is thick, I add liquitex or Goulden liquid matte medium to thin it...with Goulden paint you can add up to 100% without losing the intensity of the color. I learned this from my class in CVP. This can also thin opaque paint so that you have a glaze. The paints that have less pigment will lose some of their color when you thin them. Hope this helps.
Yes. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I had the lacing problem and thought it was me being a failure! Your instructions are very very helpful.
Thanks for watching.
Great video. I normally do fluid art but have started to get into mixed media and collage work. I just got my first gelli plate a couple of days ago and now I know how to break it in. I'm going to open it up and put paper on both sides and try to get the oil off before using it. Thank you, I just subscribed to your channel!! ❤
Very much enjoyed this Susan. I remove acetate covers immediately and place plate between copy paper (bottom and top) and I never change the copy paper, so that it becomes a bit oily, which I think is good for the plate when in storage. I love the Ranger brand gel plate storage tins for storing my plates (up to 8x10 that is.)
I had a smaller plate that I kept the acetate covers on and that damaged the plate. I love the idea of using the same paper as it gets a bit oily. Thanks for sharing that.
@@SusanCliftonArtist You betcha! I also called Gelli Arts (they are so helpful) and they also said use copy paper. I save the acetate sheets to make stencils out of. But you would love the Ranger tins, I love mine. P.S. When one of your new videos pops up you can hear me say "Oh, goodie" out loud, to no one in particular :)
Should you use copy paper as well as storing in the ranger tin? thanks for helping a newbie out - I'm off to take the acetate plates of my new gelli plates.. @Brooksk818 @@KathyBrooksArt
@@KathyBrooksArt Gelli Arts is recommending storing their plates between sheets of paper, but I don't think those instructions are part of their packaging.
@I-Like-Pretty-Shiny-Things You don't have to use copy paper if you store your gel plates in the Ranger tins, but you certainly could. I like the tins, but they are not big enough for the 9x12 gel plate. I store my 8x10 and smaller plates in the tins without paper. I store my 9x12 plate between sheets of Pacon/Ucreate drawing paper in its (damaged 😢) clamshell. I'd like to have a tin for it.
I had the same issue with my first attempt recently. I thought it was because I had used some pouring paint which had reacted. I abandoned it and used acrylic tubes. Glad to know that it wasn’t the case. Thankyou for this video. It was so useful.
I'm glad. Thanks for watching.
Thank you for the instruction on how to break in a new gelli plate. Now, I know what to expect. Good advice.
Thanks.
This is exactly the same paint I used on my first gel press yesterday, colour and all! To be honest, I now wish I'd taken advantage of the uniqueness it created with the lacing. Ahh all part of the learning journey I'm enjoying.
My plate is still sometimes lacing after I clean it. Baby wipes seem to encourage lacing. If you want it intentionally.
Enjoyed video found it interesting and informative thanks for helpful hints..
Glad it was helpful!
Great color combination! ❤
Thank you! 🤗
Love it, I oil my plate because I like the lacing effect...isn't variety in taste wonderful
So true!
I think this is a lovely effect actually
It can be beautiful if that is what you are going for. 😎
I had the lacing issue also and thought my plate was defective. Thanks for the video!
Glad it helped!
Thanks, I am new to gelli's & needed this info.
I'm glad I could help.
Thanks for your video. I like the nice grid pattern you put underneath. Seems very helpful for positioning paper. Is it a cutting board for fabric? What is its surface like? Do you cover it with some transparent sheet of some sort?
It's a self healing mat. Graphic designers use it but also I've seen it in fabric stores. This one is double sided.
I love the ‘lacing’ effect. Unless of course I’m going after a smooth solid either opaque or transparent. In fact, I oil my plate so I can get that ‘lacing’ effect. I use both commercially and homemade plates.
Great tip! I'll try that when I'm going for the lacing pattern. I haven't tried to make a plate. Do you find it's nicer than commercial?
@@SusanCliftonArtist you can customize the handmade plates, size, shape and thickness. Great for more freeform abstract work. Longevity, they are not as sturdy as the commercial made, and will breakdown after awhile. However, you can melt them down and reform them. Ta-da!
When I need a more traditional ‘offset’ print, the commercial made one is preferred.
I think “seasoned” is the perfect term!
Thanks.
How do you store your plates after the first few weeks? The paper covering the plates no longer looks "oily". Thank you again for clear easy to follow videos.
I always store them with paper now. And they have survived that.
@@SusanCliftonArtist ah, for longer than just the first week then. Thank you
I am new to this where do I get titan buff?? Loved the snake skin print
Golden Fluid acrylics are usually sold in art supply store. But Amazon also carries them. ❤️Golden Fluid Titan Buff
amzn.to/3KCNSSZ . Thanks for watching.
Very helpful
Thanks for watching.
Just out of curiosity, what setting do you use to cut the patterns out on the Cricut. I’d probably use cereal box for them.
I use the Mylar setting on the Explore 3 and use more pressure. A cereal box is pretty thick so not sure what you should use. You might need the deep cut blade. I'm not much of a Cricut expert. I use it just for stencils and nothing else.
one of the ingredients of acrylic paints is distilled water, you do not have to let your paint dry out or throw it away. a few drops of water at a time, then see how it is. you can get it back to normal with patience.
Yes. I am aware of that. I put it aside to use on painting projects.
Great tutorial, thank you for sharing. New subscriber here 👋
Thanks and welcome.
Susan, I have a new plate and have never used one. This is a big help! Wondering if an "unseasoned" plate has troubles with magazine transfers? I tried even using the recommended magazines ( Vogue ), different paints, and even a laser print off, and I haven't been able to transfer. Not enough or too little paint, pressure, etc. ? I've watched the videos I could find, but nothing seems to explain it except the need to season the plate. Would love input!
magazine transfers are tricky. I don't have a lot of experience with them. I find they are hard to do and I don't like to waste my paint. Plus it doesn't fit with my style of art. I have seen videos where people use color laser prints that have been double printed and they say that works. I don't have a color laser printer so I haven't tried that. I had a little success with a black toner laser printer but I wouldn't say it was perfect. I suggest you learn how to do gel prints normally first and get the hang of it before you try to do the magazine prints. Best of luck.
Wow, Thank You Susan! I will follow your advice....and your channel! Love both your sweet atmosphere and content!@@SusanCliftonArtist
That would make a great journal covers , the second brown beige pull you did . Very enjoyable video , thank you for sharing . Crimson not brown 🤦
Great idea! Thanks for watching.
I notice your brayer doesn’t leave lines! What kind of brayer is it? I need it, I think! 🤷🏻♀️
I use two types. The black one is inexpensive and I got it at a Blick store. The other is a Speedball. They are the best. amzn.to/3ZIfKJY
I rather like the 'lacing' pattern, it's temporary with a new plate. I've heard storing the gel plate with plain paper on top is preferable to using the plastic sheet. I also find a layer of baby oil cleans stubborn marks and is quickly absorbed into the gel plate and no lacing results!! Loved that ghost pull too!
I did see it mentioned somewhere ages ago which is why I tried storing it with paper but since I've seen other that warn not to do it. I agree sometimes you want a lacing pattern. I did a video using high flow paint and got lots of lacing and they were beautiful prints.
I’ve had my Gelli plates for several months and they get a lot of use. The only time I’ve ever gotten the lacy effect is when I use the pourable paints.
Do you mean the paint that is formulated for Acrylic Pour Art? Or just Fluid paints. I found that if I use fluid paints on a new plate I get a lot of lacing. At the time of getting my first gelli plate that was all I had. It was very frustrating. I learned to buy creamier paints for the plate. I still prefer painting with fluids.
Would washing the new plate with a little dawn and rinsing well, not help?
I didn't think Dawn would be good for a gel plate because it strips oils from things. But I looked it up and Gelli Arts recommends Dawn after you use baby oil to clean the plate. So try it. Thanks, your question made me look it up.
Thank you! If one wanted to intentionally get the lacing, what needs to be done?
You can always use baby oil on the plate. Also the thinner the paint the more lacing. I did a video on using Golden highflow paint which is almost like ink. You get a lot of lacing with that paint. But it was a cool effect.
@@SusanCliftonArtist Thank you!😊
Why are all my acrylic prints so dry and hard, kind of chalky feeling? Is there something I can put on afterward that makes the surface softer??
I'm not sure. What brand of paint are you using? If you do very thin layers of paint it shouldn't be hard. The chalky-ness might be the brand of paint.Try putting a layer of gloss medium over it.
You can just add a little water to your thick paint, distilled is best. Floetrol is even better!
❤❤😎
Will baby wipes help remove the oils and I can never get my brayer clean, what can I do?
I don't think so. I use baby wipes to clean the plate but I don't think it removes the oils. You don't want to remove all the oil. Just enough to get the paint to adhere. I do have videos on cleaning both the plates and brayers. For the brayer I soak in Murphys Oil Soap.
@@SusanCliftonArtist thank you. I’ll look for your cleaning video.
I gel print alot. What I do is take an old wash rag (thin is good) cut in half, get damp, keep in a small bowl on my table. Inbetween, while waiting for paper to dry on the plate I clean my brayer with damp paper towel and then the damp wash cloth. I keep my brayers very clean this way. I almost never have to soak my brayers any longer. When I do soak them, I use Murphy's Oil Soap and water in a small container, about 8 parts Water to 1 part Murphy's, or simply water with a dollop of Murphy's.
@@KathyBrooksArt thank you, I will try your cleaning method. Can inexpensive brayer be a problem?
What is your plate actually sitting on while working?
I think I just had it on my cutting mat. I don't usually do that. I just put it on the table.
the plaSTIC CASING for my geli plate cracked dramatically so wondering how i can safely store my gelli plate in an alternative way
And I repurposed a nonstick baking pan (too big for my small ovens) as a storage surface. I cover the plate with plain paper or even palate paper.
WOW. I love how others jumped in and helped you. Ranger also makes a tin case you can use.
Ranger makes great tin flat storage containers perfect for gel plate storage. I have three of them. They will hold up to 8x10 plates. They are running about 8.99 USD currently. I love mine. If you type into your browser 'Ranger Gel Plate Storage Tin" it will come up.
thank you very much- so helpful @@KathyBrooksArt
great idea -thank you@@allthumbs3792
why is there only a down arrow. i want to give it a thumbs up
There is a thumbs up. Thanks for watching.
I’m curious… what dies the manufacturer say about that happening?
I haven't seen anything on this from the manufacturer.
@@SusanCliftonArtist wondering if Have you contacted them for advice on the situation ?
Why is the Azo gold going away?
Golden can no longer get the pigment. It’s a shame. Great color.
Golden didn't explain in their announcement why, but does give a formula for mixing the color using other colors in their line up:).
💖💖💖🇦🇺
😎