Ever wondered if you could use alcohol inks on your gel plate? Well yes, you can!
Let me show you how easy it is to create super interesting backgrounds in a few super easy steps 🙂
And I have a gift for you to download so make sure to watch the video to find out how to get it!
Start the video and follow me along!
 1. Drop and Move
It’s the same process as working on yupo where you just drop the ink down and then make it move to create patterns.
It’s best to start with a limited palette of colours so I am choosing just 3 for now: pink, turquoise and lime because they all go well together (apart from pink and lime which will can create a muddy colour but that doesn’t usually bother me much with alcohol inks!).
- Start adding drops of the 3 colours all around your gel plate but don’t try to cover it completely because we are going to make the ink move a bit later.
- You can add a little bit of blending solution at this stage or later.
- You can add a 4th colour in some of the gaps and I’m choosing yellow because it goes well with my 3 colours.
- Now use your ink blower to move the colours around then add a little blending solution. Keep blowing and adding the solution until your inks have spread out a bit
- Now you can add more colour if you wish! To avoid going too crazy I am just reusing the same turquoise and continue to spread the ink around.
By the way, adding a white sheet of paper under your gel plate will help see what you are doing (I didn’t do at first because it can make your plate slide around a little but I wanted you to see exactly what I’m doing!).
 2. Hold on!
- Place your paper on top of the wet white paint and burnish the whole surface with your hand or with your brayer.
- Now gently pull your paper off and take your time with this – and don’t worry if there is some residue left behind, it’s normal!
And now… Check those colours and fun patterns, and the slight sheen created by the inks!
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3. If you think that’s cool, then LET’S DO IT AGAIN!
This time I’m starting with 2 shades of purple, and some pink (remember, all the supplies used in this video are in the description box). I’ll also add some gold mixative and some turquoise.
A mixative is a lot more dense than regular alcohol inks so make sure to add blending solution directly on it after dropping it on your gel plate to help the particles break up and spread out. The more you can make the mixative move, the prettier it will look. If you don’t break it up you will end up with big patches that didn’t blend with your other colours so it won’t look very organic.
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Your turn!
If like me you have lots of residue left on your gel plate then make sure to pull another print because the results are just as interesting!
Oh and I have a little gift for you:
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It’s a high resolution PDF file you can print and use in your own artwork! It’s the one I created in this video, but reworked to make it even prettier!
You could use it as a background for cards or a journal page, or tear it up for collage, or just frame it!
To get it for free:
- Watch the video
- Add the file to your cart here
- Enter the code on the screen at checkout
- Enjoy 🙂
 List of supplies
- Gel Press Gel Plate 8×10 in
- Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink: Wild Plum, Aquamarine, Lemonade, Amethyst, Cool Peri
- Pinata Alcohol Ink: Lime Green, Pink, Gold
- Ranger Blending Solution
- Alcohol Ink Air Blower
- Brayer (you can also use a baren if it helps – see it here)
- 200gsm white cardstock
- Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint: Titatium White
Want to learn mixed media effortlessly?
My book 'No Shenanigans! Mixed Media Painting' is full of step-by-step tutorials from start to finish!
A book to tear up and use in your own art!
My book 'Secret Stash' is a collection of mixed media backgrounds for you to make more art with!
Hi Mimi, love your videos, loved the use of alcohol ink on the gelli plate, i will definitely give that technique a go to produce beautiful backgrounds as well. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Sue, such a lovely message for me to read today, so glad you got inspired to give it a try! Let me know how it goes for you 🙂 xx mimi
Hi Mimi, thanks for the pdf download. I watched the video just to find out what a gelli plate is and how it works but it seems the plate goes with a whole lot of supplies which I don’t already have such as alcohol inks and blending solution. Pls kindly advise if I could use acrylic / watercolour and is this the only way to make my own journal backgrounds? Tks,
Rosa
Hi Rosa, Glad you enjoyed the video and the gift 🙂 You can use a gel plate with acrylic paint (it’s it’s main purpose actually!). And there are TONS of ways to make your own art journal backgrounds. I use so many techniques I created an e-course just for backgrounds right here: https://mimibondi.com/mixed-media-playground-1-e-course. The e-course also includes 5 full length (step by step) video tutorials (much more details than my free youtube videos) so I think it would be perfect for you Rosa! Let me know if you have any questions about it 🙂
Great technique and fun too!
Hi Alice!! Thank you, and super easy too! There are many other techniques and I’ll demonstrate them in upcoming videos 😉