E3/4/5: Printmaking

So, I took a big risk and had my students begin this lesson by using actual linoleum cutters and cut actual linoleum. I shouldn't have taken that risk (shaking head). The linoleum I had ordered ended up being too hard and not as soft as I had expected.  The students were so excited though and had done several preliminary sketches so I let them try it out. Of course I demonstrated how to carve correctly so they wouldn't cut their other hand, but not surprisingly, within two minutes of starting I heard "Ow!" followed by another "Ow!".  We immediately switched to styrofoam sheets and, although it wasn't as satisfying a process as carving linoleum, it was still really cool to see the end result. 

Second Grade: Fox in the Dark

Second graders read The Fox in the Dark and drew a fox of their own with soft pastels. Since the story takes place in the woods, they made leaves out of styrofoam and stamped them around their border. 

2nd Grade: Positive and Negative Leaf Prints

                                                               

Positive and Negative prints

I borrowed this fantastic idea from the fantastic Cassie Stephens! It's a great lesson- completely student lead and very successful and so satisfying; lifting up that sheet with the printed image never gets old! The night before the lesson I made gelatin (for the first time! Yay!) and by morning it was nice and firm and ready to go.

In the above photo, a student first inked the gelatin with black water soluble printing ink and then arranged her plants on top. 

When she was done, she placed a sheet of paper on top and rubbed it with her hands. We used drawing paper. 

Here she's gently pulling the paper off the gelatin. The gelatin is rubbery so the paper picks up the ink really well leaving a perfect silhouette of the plants. 

Making the negative print was already cool, but Cassie Stephens  had the awesome idea to make a positive image of the leaves as well! As you can see, when the students lifted off the leaves, there was a delightfully beautiful and detailed print of it. 

So purty!!

Other lovely examples.

Students also printed with flowers by pressing them face down on the ink and stamping them onto their paper. 

Second Grade: Hokusai Mount Fuji Prints

Students learned about ukiyo-e artist, Katsushika Hokusai, and his famous Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji prints. They looked at photo references of Mt. Fuji and carved their own design on a sheet of styrofoam. Using multiple colors of printing ink at a time, students achieved Hokusai's vibrant color gradations on their prints. 

Middle School: Printed Pillows

Acrylic print on muslin

Prints made by wrapping a wooden block with thread and painting over with acrylic.