Basic techniques with Gelatos

When blending, various colours of Gelato are applied and smudged together using a fingertip, cotton bud or paper wiper. This creates colour gradients and blended colours. Edging produces expressive borders. Here, colours are applied roughly to the edge of a card or piece of paper and blended into the middle.

When embossing, a synthetic resin powder is sprinkled onto a wet stamp and then melted onto the surface with a heat gun to produce a relief-like effect. The surface can be paper, cardboard or wood but should be heat resistant. Gelatos can be applied before or after embossing as an extra creative touch.

You can create extravagant backgrounds with either store-bought or home-made stencils. In the example, you can see that the first step is to apply Gelato to the back of a masking stencil. Moisten the paper and then lay the stencil onto it. Depending on the pressure, you can create a pastel or more intensely coloured print. Stencils are great for use with both dry and wet techniques. Gelatos can be rubbed into or sprayed onto the holes in the stencil. You can also lighten areas to great effect by reducing the colour with a baby wipe or cleaning cloth.

The water-solubility of Gelatos allows for many creative applications. The simplest method is applying with water and a brush. A piece of Gelato dissolved in warm water can also make a great colour spray. On a large scale or sprayed over stencils, it creates beautiful patterns in no time. Dots, lines or freestyle, artistic statements are easy to make with a pipette. Use a sponge to dab spontaneous structures onto a composition and give it an artistic character.

Gelatos work brilliantly with stamps. Moisten the stamping surface, apply one or more colours and stamp onto paper. Beautiful, spontaneous watercolour effects guaranteed!

A piece of crayon is dissolved with a little water and mixed with some gesso to give colours body and an opaque consistency. You can also produce very pastel tones depending on the amount you use. Colours created in this way are brilliant for painting and stamping, or for use with a spatula and other creative techniques.

Gelatos are ideal for colouring modelling clay. Simply apply the crayon to a saucer, then dab the colour with the modelling clay and massage it in. For vivid structures, crumble the crayon roughly into the saucer and form it into your desired bead shape with the modelling clay. Punch a hole in the bead and harden it in the oven according to the instructions.

Think outside the box! Some of the best Gelato effects can be achieved by using the most bizarre materials. Bubble wrap, for example, creates a lovely stamped effect. Simply moisten the paper, apply the Gelatos to the bubbles in the bubble wrap and use it to stamp onto the paper.

Dripping really showcases the range of things you can do with watersolubility. With this technique, Gelatos are applied to paper, roughly smudged with a finger and then moistened with a spray. The liquefied colour starts to run as soon as the paper is tilted. The degree of the gradient can be controlled by inclining the paper and subsequent water sprays.