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A New Gel Printing Tool from the Hardware Store

Dryer vents aren’t just for dryers!  They are for gel printing too!  This flexible tube makes the best fine lines on a gel plate!  It not only removes the paint to create the pattern, it also can be used to add paint.  Be sure to see how at the end of the video.

Watch on YouTube.

Start by putting 2 colors of paint on your gel plate.  One lighter and one darker shows the pattern best.

To make the dryer vent easy to roll, put a stick in it.  Or a rolling pin, or dowel rod or a heavy cardboard tube.  Whatever you have around and the roll it like a rolling pin. As you do that, the color with transfer around in thin little lines.

A hybrid ghost print?  Yes!  There was still some paint on the dryer vent, so I rolled it back on the plate.  That created some lines and there were a few already left on there since I never took the ghost print.

Brayer clean up sheets are for more than just cleaning a brayer.  They are great for getting up all the last bits of paint.  Since it’s the same colors, it all matches and with just a touch of pattern, that random brayered paper can look fabulous!

Here are the supplies used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps keep the free tutorials coming!

The purple paint is by Plaza art but the color has changed so can’t find a link with the same version of color used in the video.

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  • Joanne H November 7, 2018, 10:22 am

    Love the look the thin lines give you from the dry vent! Can’t wait to go to Lowe’s!

  • Denise November 7, 2018, 3:17 pm

    Love the results. You have the best techniques

  • Beth November 9, 2018, 5:36 pm

    How fun – and SO my type of lines! My favorite texture-line maker ever is an old fashioned hard plastic hair roller – the type with a curved piece that goes over the entire roller to hold hair in place.

    It makes wonderful rolled lines/dots, and the curved snap-on piece makes C’s and other shapes.

  • Boo November 10, 2018, 7:55 am

    What a great idea! I would not have thought to use the dryer vent!!

  • Shosh November 12, 2018, 1:56 am

    Love your arts the best
    So optimistic and full of life colours.
    Thank you

  • Tammy July 11, 2019, 7:44 am

    This is such an awesome idea. Great job

  • Sandra C. June 10, 2022, 8:01 pm

    Carolyn, this is so cool! Love the lines, especially when using more than one color! Thanks for sharing this with us!