Can I Print Art to Use for a Lesson
Block printing is one of my favorite things to practice with kids (and with myself for that affair, who needs a kid to accept fun with art?). Later in the week, I will be featuring some Japanese woodblock prints every bit part of my Art Spotlight series, and then in grooming for that, I will prove you lot some ways to make cake prints at home.
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Printmaking Instructions
Display, print, or laminate these instructions to show students each stride in the printmaking procedure.
What is a Block Print?
You tin can call back of a cake print kind of like a bootleg stamp. You take a material like wood ("woodcut") or linoleum ("linocut") and carve abroad every part of the image you want to be white (or any color your newspaper happens to be). Professional printers from throughout art history employ layered color and precise tools to brand cute and detailed works, and y'all and your students can also using the processes I describe below. Although it is possible to make a impress with multiple colors, I recommend starting with one color. There are lots of ways to make cake prints at home with your kids, and I will focus on ii types here in this mail service: foam printing and linocut press.
Foam Printing
Cream printing involves drawing deep lines into Styrofoam and using ink or pigment to transfer this image onto paper. This is the cheapest fashion to do a block print and the safest and virtually accessible for young children. One way is merely taking a Styrofoam plate, cutting off the rim so y'all end up with a flat disk, and carving/drawing on it with a boring pencil, a stick, or a ballpoint pen. Make certain the lines you draw are pressed deep into the foam for the best results. Next, spread printing ink (or even some tempera paint thinned merely a scrap with some h2o) over the surface of the foam using a paintbrush or roller (see more tips well-nigh spreading the ink below). Then put your paper on acme, press downwardly over the whole surface of the paper with the back of a spoon or a roller, and and so elevator the paper off.
Try it a few times first then you know exactly the right process before you take the kiddos practise it as this tin sometimes not work well if y'all don't push downward hard enough or use paint instead of printing ink. I recommend using ink because the results will be much cleaner! Instead of using a plate, you lot can likewise buy packs of foam printing plates for this same purpose in a multifariousness of sizes. Yous'll have meliorate results with these and you don't have to worry about chopping up the plates. See the supplies listing at the bottom of this post for recommendations and links.
Linocut Printing
My favorite way of block press is to utilise easy-cut prophylactic blocks that more closely mimic the process of using linoleum and wood only is still easy enough for an elementary-age student to cut (with close supervision). You lot need some specialized supplies for this, but they are non too pricy and they can be used over and over with the exceptions of the blocks themselves. Encounter a supply list with links at the cease of the mail.
First, sketch the design onto the print block. You can use transfer newspaper to transfer a drawing or draw correct on the block. Tracing your design in a permanent mark will assistance y'all when y'all start cutting. Also, exist sure to do all text and numbers backward as the resulting print is a mirror image. Adjacent, use a linoleum cutter to carve out all of the areas of the design that you desire to be white. This tool usually comes with several tips for different thicknesses of lines. If you have a true linoleum block, this will take some muscle. If you lot take an easy-cut safe block, it volition cut smoothly and quickly, like butter. I've had upper unproblematic age kids utilise these with niggling trouble.
Safety Tip: Exist sure to push button away from your easily and your trunk when using this tool! I have a prissy v-shaped scar on my pointer finger of my left manus from doing this on real linoleum on my bed when I was in college. It wasn't a smart determination.
Next, spread some ink on an inking plate, a piece of drinking glass, plexiglass, or anything non-porous and flat. H2o-based printing ink is best. You tin can utilise tempera or acrylic paint, but it doesn't work as well. Utilize a soft roller (or "brayer") to whorl the ink flat. Become in both directions to spread the ink evenly on the roller. Curlicue the ink onto the print block and and then put the paper on top of the cake. Utilize the back of a spoon or a second roller to printing the paper onto the block (this is called "burnishing"). Here is a great video that covers the basics of how to ink and print.
Supplies
These are basic fine art supplies that you can buy at whatsoever fine art supply store, but I take put the Amazon affiliate link for your convenience.
- Foam Press Plates
- Water-based Printing Ink
- Soft Brayer for Inking
- Linoleum Cutter
- Easy-cut Linoleum Blocks
- Inking Plate/Bench Hook
Similar this? Stay tuned for an Art Spotlight post later in the week about Japanese woodblock prints! Let me know if you tried whatever of this out! I'd dear to see your student's work. Please share your pics below or on twitter.
This post was originally published June xxx, 2014.
Source: https://artclasscurator.com/making-art-with-kids-block-printing/