A Beginners Guide to Gelli Plate Printing Supplies List

SUPPLY LIST

I source my equipment and materials from a number of different places in the UK.  Here are some of the links but by all means search around and get the best deals and combined postage.

I have created a Gelli Printing Starter Kit especially with this course in mind.  It contains all the bare essentials you will need including a plate, roller, papers, paint and a selection of textures.  It is on sale in my online shop.

Alternatively buy all the equipment separately, here are my recommendations.

 

Gelli Plates

On this course I only use these two brands.  If you buy a Speedball plate you can only use their inks on it.

The Gelli Arts and Gel Press plates come in a range of sizes, I recommend this size to begin with.

·       Gelli Arts 5 x 7 inch plate – Jackson’s Art

Or

·       Gel Press 5 x 7 plate - Amazon

 

Brayer (roller)

·       4 inch red roller by Essdee – Jackson’s  Art

 

Acrylic Paints

If you already have acrylic paint give that a go on the plate, it needs to be medium body so basically not too runny. The paints below are a medium body.  I don’t use Golden Open paints just because they are so expensive and I can achieve most things with these paints.

·       Amsterdam acrylic paint, Standard Series set - Pullingers – great if you want a wide range of colours.  I use the 120ml tubes and choose the few colours I want.

·       Amsterdam acrylic paint Standard Series metallics set – Pullingers – not compulsory but a great addition.

·       Liquitex Basics acrylic paint – Cass Art

·       Pebeo Deco Crème – Amazon

 

 

Gel Medium

Useful to lift a print without using pigment. Both work the same, it’s just personal preference if you prefer gloss or matte.

·       Liquitex gloss medium – Cass Art

·       Liquitex matte medium – Cass Art

 

Paper

Use papers you have at home, all sorts can be used from envelopes to catalogue pages but NEVER photo paper, it adheres to the plate and doesn’t come off!  The cheapest option to learn with is printer paper, nothing fancy.  If you are wanting to create more delicate, transparent papers then a lighter weight paper such as teabag paper or wet strength tissue would be good.

·       Basic printer paper 80 gsm - Amazon

·       Bumper drawing pad 80 gsm – The Works

Medium weight

·       Fabriano accademia drawing paper A4 160gsm - Jacksons Art

·       Blank greetings card or a piece of white card folded in half

·       Seawhite Cupcycling A4 140gsm – Jackson’s Art

Or

Any smooth card stock or heavy paper

 

Light weight

·       Teabag paper any weight (I sell this one) - Nimanoma

Beware of imposters! Teabag paper isn’t very widely sold and many sellers are selling wet strength tissue instead. Look that it is made from abaca fibre.

·       Wet strength tissue - Amazon

·       Deli paper – Handprinted Uk

·       Rice paper - Amazon

 

 

 

Textures

Any textured item as long as it is not sharp can be used for creating textures. Just be aware that unless you wash the item quickly the paint will stick or can stain so they need to be items you don’t mind getting painty.

You don’t need many to get started but a couple of things to try out will be needed.

·       Recycled packaging eg, corrugated card, bubble wrap, honey comb packaging, biscuit or sweet trays, pill packets

·       Mark making tools eg. paint brushes, fancy palette knives, old loyalty cards, rubber brushes, textured rollers

·       Fabrics eg. lace, braid, textured cloth,

·       Stencils eg. hand cut stencils, bought stencils, doilies, die cut papers

·       Botanicals eg. pressed leaves, fresh leaves, seed heads NOTHING SHARP

·       Other eg. ball of wool, bottle tops,  rolled up card, nuts from nuts and bolts

·       I also sell a range of textures for this exact purpose, take a look at my online shop - Nimanoma

 

Sundries

·       Low tack tape

·       Sharp knife

·       Cutting Mat

·       Scissors

·       Paper towels

·       Ruler

·       Pen

·       Pencil

·       Scrap paper