Want to Learn to Gel Print? I have some recs for you!
I first heard about gel printing in 2018 while listening to Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s Adventures in Arting podcast. I was intrigued about the idea and explored some online videos about it. The next thing I knew, I was ordering one!
At first, I made a bit of a mess. It looked so easy online. What was I doing wrong?
I saw an online course called Doing More with Your Gelli Plate offered by Carla Sondheim Presents. This wonderful course taught me a lot about using the plate and it also taught me a method of abstracting animal shapes. I was hooked!
In 2019, I was feeling like I needed some further guidance on gel printing. I saw a one-day in-person class at a wonderful store not far from me, Artistic Artifacts. Susan Gantz was our excellent instructor. I took notes and learned a lot that day. Susan recommended Golden OPEN paints,* so I ordered some and they revolutionized my gel printing process.
I went deeper into gel printing, but I kept my eyes peeled for new opportunities to learn more. I watched free tutorials by GelPress and GelliArts.
Carolyn Dube is a famous gel plate instructor who has a great attitude that’s contagious. In 2020, I took her Playing with Found Patterns online course. I was amazed—and inspired—by how she can make damn near anything into an art tool for the gel plate! Carolyn has really mastered gel printing and is a great communicator—she has a background as an educator, so she’s a skilled teacher.
In 2021, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer released the mother of all gel printing courses: A Year of Gelatin Printing. By this time, I’d fallen even deeper in love with gel printing, and I wanted to learn all I could about the many techniques that one can use in gel printing. This course was such a joy to me, and it’s a resource I’ll return to again and again, both for reference (“How do I do that again?”) and for inspiration. Julie blew my mind with the level of detail and the breadth of topics that were covered. It was exhaustive and so educational! Julie sells this course as a bundle (for those who want to learn all the things) and as individual courses based on each monthly topic.
Am I done learning about how to print on the gel plate? No way! I learn new things all the time as I print away on my plates (yes, my collection is growing).
I recently bought a giant 16” x 20” gel plate, and I can’t wait to try large-scale printing! I’ll be sure to share the results with you.
Have any questions about learning to gel print? Inspired to try it? Drop me a comment and I’ll be sure to reply.
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