GelTangle: A Fabulous New Technique

Introducing Geltangle, a fabulous new technique. Geltangle or geltangling is the art of combining Gel Press and Zentangle®, two of my favorite art techniques.

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Getting Started With Geltangle

If you already have a gel printing plate and a pen that works on non-porous surfaces you’re well equipped to Geltangle. While I prefer monoprinting with acrylic paint, you can use the dye, pigment, or Distress, and Distress Oxide ink pads you have on hand. Each media will result in a different look with acrylic paint being the clearest and most vibrant.

In this video, I used a 5″ x 7″ Gel Press, ETCHR watercolor journal, Amsterdam Acrylic paint, Posca acrylic pens, Neocolor II watersoluble crayons, and a white charcoal pencil. It’s not necessary to do this in a journal. If I’m using paper, I monoprint with Hammermill Color Laser Copy Paper.

As far as non-porous surface pens go, I’ve used Sakura Microperm, Sakura Identi-Pen, and Uni-Posca Paint Markers. All of these work well, however, my Microperm and Identi-Pens have gotten clogged when tangling on alcohol ink panels in the past. To unclog them, wipe the tip with a paper towel or wipe and scribble on paper to improve their flow.

Gel Press Monoprinting

Choose your media and color palette and start with gel press monoprinting. For this print, I chose Amsterdam Acrylic Paint in Burnt Sienna, Turquoise Blue, and Naples Yellow. I went for a grungy look with a few layers of paint and texture. To create the texture I used bubble wrap, a rubbing plate, and Gelli Arts Mini Printing Tools.

Geltangle

Then it’s a matter of choosing your tangle patterns, such as crescent moon and my unnamed pattern below. A great pattern resource is TanglePatterns.com, but if you prefer a book I recommend, The Great Zentangle Book. I lean towards mono-tangle and duo-tangle pieces when I’m playing around with a new tangle or technique.

The tangled elements are the same color and texture as the backgrounds. Therefore, shadows and highlights are necessary to delineate the tangled elements from each other and the background. Typically, I create shadows with a regular pencil. However, in this case, charcoal grey shadows would have muddied the piece.

Therefore, I opted for Ultramarine Neocolor II shadows. I only used a black Neocolor II crayon in a few places to create extra depth. Highlights with a white Neocolor II crayon were pretty weak, so I switched to a General’s White Charcoal Pencil.

Give Geltangle A Go

Now that you have an overview of what Geltangle is, I hope you try it! There aren’t any rules. Relax, get loose, and have fun with the process. Do let me know what you think in the comments, and if get your Geltangle on tag me on Instagram @notableink. I’d love to see what you’re creating. Tagging the photo vs. the description will ensure I see it.

More Inspiration

Did you miss my last Geltangle video? Check out the blog post and video for more inspiration. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss my next Geltangle video.

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