All Things Crafty
An absolute visual delight. Whether youre a beginner or a seasoned mixed-media artist, this book is packed with creativity, colour, and endless printmaking possibilities.
From the moment you open it, the photography steals the showeach page is exquisitely styled, rich in texture, and full of beautiful prints that instantly spark your imagination. Its a true feast for the eyes, even before you get your hands inky. The layout is clean and intuitive, with a contents list that makes navigating the book a breeze. This is especially helpful if youre diving back in to revisit a particular technique or idea.
The Materials section is an absolute gem, covering all the essential supplies in an easy-to-digest format. From types of gelli plates (including a DIY recipe!) to paints, papers, fabrics, tools, and stampsthis section alone is a wonderful primer for beginners and a good refresher for more experienced printmakers.
Every subsection is paired with informative text and clear visuals, making it easy to follow and incredibly engaging. Following the materials, Ickler and Klink dive into color theoryexploring gradation, saturation, and harmonybefore launching into a series of fun and creative printing techniques.
Rather than being a rigid step-by-step manual, this book serves as a sourcebook for ideas and inspiration. It encourages exploration and play, inviting readers to experiment and find joy in the process of printing.
Fun with Gelli Plate Prints beautifully captures the spirit of creativity that Gelli printing embodies. Its not just instructionalits motivational. Whether youre looking to create prints for collage, cards, fabric, or just for the sheer fun of it, this book is a celebration of the artform.
I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to spark their creativity and dive into the colorful world of Gelli plate printing. I have had lots of fun experimenting with plants, cotton reels and multi-colour prints! Congratulations again to Sabine Ickler and Katrin Klink on this joyful and inspiring publication!
artbookreview.net
The title of this immediately suggests a not-too-in-depth introduction to a medium you may not have come across before. This is entirely appropriate as the process requires very little equipment (the introduction suggests just three items) and is therefore ideal for the beginner who maybe just wants to dip a toe into the water.
There is an extensive section on techniques, with preparation, application, use of colour and suggestions for suitable grounds and the use of stamps and stencils. Much of this may sound obvious, but this is a book for those with little or no experience in the field of art and is intelligently and lightly handled, making nothing ever a chore.
The project section is really more of a collection of ideas and suggestions, from fabrics to ceramics and wall art. Yes, you could probably work this out for yourself, but I think weve established that you are a complete beginner and welcoming of simple ideas. With nothing too complicated or onerous, you can be certain of worthwhile results quite quickly.
I was prepared to damn this with faint praise, but Ive landed up liking it a lot. The authors dont just know their stuff, they know their audience too.
