Color theory for the gel plate

With all the fun of gelli printing, who wants to follow rules?

Not me, but a basic understanding of color theory can help you create papers that you love.

When first starting to use your gelli plate, don’t bother with most color theory. Just have fun! The only rule I recommend starting with is picking one side of the color wheel. Do you lean towards blue and greens (cool colors) or red and oranges (warm colors)? Start with whichever side calls to you. Mixing any shade of blue or green will give you appealing color mixes. That same with red and orange. The problem happens when you cross colors from opposite sides. In equal quantities, a warm and a cool color will typically make a brown-ish color (otherwise known as “making mud”). When you are first starting, I don’t want you to have to worry about colors. I want you to get to know your gel plate, how the brayer works, which paper you like and how to create different effects on your plate. Once you dive a little deeper, then you can explore some color mixes.

I’ll continue exploring color theory with you over the next few weeks.