I was at a trade show in Salt Lake City the week of July 11th. During the time there I was able to walk the show floor in addition to demoing and otherwise working the event. One of the most fascinating things I saw involved as unlikely a combination of products as you’ll ever see: a Gel Press Plate, Alcohol Inks, and hand sanitizer.
Sally Lynn MacDonald was demoing this technique in the Gel Press booth and I was fortunate enough to watch and pick her brain during the show, and a little afterward. She’s an excellent instructor and I was immediately excited about trying the process. Of course that meant waiting until I was home, but once I was, this technique was the first thing I played with.
The results can vary depending on how much of the hand sanitizing gel you apply to the plate. You can roll out a thin layer with a brayer or apply a heavier one with our plastic scraper/spreader. With a thicker layer of gel, you can print, add more color, print again, and keep going until you exhaust the gel.
Something else you can do is spritz 91% Isopropyl Alcohol on the inks when they’re sitting on the plate. I like to do it when there is only a little left and then capture the pattern by printing on Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. You’ll also see me use Yupo, which provides a very different look. With paper, the alcohol ink cannot be manipulated once you pull the print. When you use Yupo, the opposite is true: the color can be moved by tilting the sheet or otherwise pushing it around.
One thing you’ll notice is that the 6 new colors of Alcohol Ink that Tim and Ranger released in mid-July 2016 are not featured in the video. If I’d had them at the time I was filming I would have added the colors to the mix. Since I didn’t, you won’t see them today but given the bright, cheerful nature of those new colors, I know they’ll be fabulous when dropped and puddled on hand sanitizer and then printed from the Gel Press Plate.
Supplies For This Video:
Strathmore 6″ x 8″ Mixed Media Paper Pad
Me & My Big Ideas Happy Planner Binder Punch & Binding Discs
4 Comments
WOW and exciting to watch. This is stirring up so much inspiration and ideas. Thanks!
Oh Barbara, I can’t wait to experiment with hand sanitizer and alcohol inks on my gel press plate! As always, your videos are excellent instructional and inspirational tutorials. Thanks again for all the time and effort, you put into helping us learn how to make the most out of our investment in art supplies!
Oh! FUN, FUN, FUN – there’s nothing left to say!
really excellent tutorial, I am gobsmacked about the hand sanitizer idea! Can’t wait to try it. Thank you for a terrific video.