Hi there! Marsha here today, sharing a fun way to stretch your mixed-media drawing supplies.
Have you ever wondered about using Derwent Inktense on the Gelli® plate?
Inktense is a watercolour medium that becomes permanent once fully dry. It’s available in pencils, blocks, and watercolour pans.
At the time of recording, I only had a set of pencils, so that’s what I used to experiment. If you have blocks or pans, you can try using those instead.
I tried using my Inktense pencils on the Gelli Arts® gel printing plate in four ways.
I found the Inktense worked best on the gel plate when wet for all three of the four experiments. I activated the pencils using a jar with water and a dampened sponge.
Some Inktense pigments can stay behind on the plate after a pull. Use (baby) oil to remove those leftover pigments from the plate.
1. Drawing with wet Inktense on the gel plate.
Activate your Inktense (pencil) by dipping it in water. Draw directly onto the plate.
You can use a brush or cotton bud to manipulate the wet pigment on the plate.
Leave the drawing to dry completely.
Carefully roll a layer of acrylic paint on the plate.
Place paper on top and rub well.
Lift the paper once you know the paint and the paper are fully dry.
2. Transfer Inktense marks onto the gel plate.
This is a hit-and-miss technique for me, but I’d like to share it with you anyway.
Some Inktense colours worked better for me than others. And, line drawings and random marks gave me better results than complete drawings.
Use Inktense to draw onto a sheet of copy paper.
Place the paper image down onto the Gelli® plate and burnish it well.
Lift the paper and roll a layer of acrylic paint on the plate.
Place paper on top and rub well.
Lift the paper once you know the paint and the paper are fully dry.
3. Draw into a layer of slow-dry medium on the gel plate.
Apply slow-dry medium to the Gelli® plate.
Activate the Inktense with water and draw it into the medium on the plate.
The slow-dry medium stays wet very long, so you don’t have to wait before pulling your print.
Place your paper on top, rub well and pull the print.
This print will need time to dry afterwards.
4. Draw on matte medium on the gel plate.
Roll out a thin and even layer of matte medium on the Gelli® plate.
Wait for the matte medium to fully dry.
Activate your Inktense with water and draw on the plate.
Holding the pencil sideways will help it glide better.
Leave the drawing to dry completely.
Carefully roll a layer of acrylic paint on the plate.
Place paper on top and burnish well.
Lift the paper once you’re sure the paint and the paper are fully dry.
Or lift the plate from the paper!
Each Inktense application has a different effect, which makes me want to experiment more and combine one or two in one print!
How about you? Do you have a favorite way of using Inktense on the gel plate? Let us know in the comments. Or tag us on Instagram to show what you’ve created. We’d love to see it!
Happy gel printing!
Marsha.
Materials:
Gelli Arts® 5″x5″ Printing Plate
Other:
Brayer
Derwent Inktense Pencils
Jar of water
Acrylic paint
Paper (300gsm watercolour card)
Matte medium
Slow-dry medium
Baby oil
Optional:
Dampened sponge
Brush
Cotton bud
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