Gel Plate Printing Next Steps - Pattern and Doodle Book - Carlton Fire Station - Adult Learning

Discover a relaxing and creative way to express yourself through colour, texture, and pattern. In this joyful course, you’ll transform an old book into a vibrant doodle and pattern book using gel printing techniques, expressive mark-making, and mindful creative play.

You’ll begin by learning how to use a gel plate to create colourful mono prints full of texture and depth. Then, week by week, you'll build on these prints by adding your own doodles and patterns—turning each page into a unique, personal piece of art. This course is designed to be playful and expressive, helping you find inspiration in everyday objects and unlock new ideas through guided activities.

Perfect for crafters, journalers, or anyone looking to explore creativity in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Course Summary?

In the first week you will be using a gel plate to create some colourful and textural prints and then over the next three weeks you shall be doodling and creating patterns on the prints and inserting them into a repurposed book. You will be discovering where to find inspiration for your patterns and also learn about the benefits of doodling. We shall be using a variety of mediums and techniques and be engaging in a few fun creative exercises to get your ideas flowing. Your doodle and pattern book will become the start of an ongoing mindful and expressive project for yourself to complete in your own time and at your own pace.

What will learners achieve by the end of the course?

• Use and maintain a gel plate and explain key gel printing terms

• Create at least 3 unique patterns using a variety of tools, textures, and mediums

• Reflect on your creative choices and describe how they represent your personal style

• Share how creativity supports wellbeing and mindfulness

• Present a completed doodle and pattern book with at least 6 expressive pages, and explain how you could apply your new skills to other creative projects like journals, cards, or mixed media

• Demonstrate effective planning and time management, meeting weekly goals and presenting a finished product to peers.

• Communicate creative ideas and processes through written or verbal reflection, showing the ability to explain design choices and techniques to others—an essential skill for creative roles, teaching, or client-based work.

What you will need to bring to the course:

• A notebook or sketchbook and pen/pencil.

• Anything that you think would make an interesting mark or pattern i.e. food packaging, lace, string, bubblewrap.

Recommended Reading:

• Elizabeth St Hilaire – Painterly Gel Prints: Mono-printing plate how-to

• Pattern – Orla Kiely

• The Science and Psychology of Doodles – Emma Steiger

If you receive certain benefits you will be offered the course for free, however if you have a financial barrier which may prevent you from enrolling on the course, please visit our funding page for further information.

Residency in England

To book and enrol on one of our courses, you must be living in England permanently and live outside of the devolved areas listed below or live within the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) devolved area (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire).

• Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield 

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

• Greater London

• Greater Manchester

• Liverpool City Region

• Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland

• Tees Valley

• West of England

• West Midlands

• West Yorkshire

Residency Eligibility – other criteria

If you are living in the UK on a visa we will require evidence of this in order to be funded for the course, you can upload this evidence when you apply for the course. (completion of a questionnaire will be required).

Some exceptions may apply for example

• Your visa expiry date must be beyond the end of your course

• Asylum seekers must have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while their claim is being considered by the Home Office

• You are receiving local authority support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989 or the Care Act 2014

Any learner who is not funded full cost fees would apply to these courses.