Handout: Printmaking 101 Vocabulary and Techniques Notesheet

Elevate Your Art Curriculum with this comprehensive printmaking resource!

Attention educators and art professionals!

I'm excited to share a valuable resource designed to enhance printmaking education across various age groups and skill levels. My newly developed two-page handout offers:

• 20 essential vocabulary words with clear definitions
• 11 diverse printmaking processes, including ones you may know such as: collagraph, relief printmaking, and gelli techniques as well as fun and funky ones like Suminagashi and Gyotaku!

This concise yet comprehensive guide serves as an excellent introduction to a survey course on printmaking or as a foundation for any printmaking unit. Its versatility makes it suitable for a wide range of educational settings, from secondary schools to higher education and community art programs.

By incorporating this resource into your curriculum, you can:

1. Standardize printmaking terminology across your department
2. Introduce students to a variety of techniques efficiently
3. Provide a quick reference guide for ongoing projects

What you get:

A pdf that includes my tips and tricks for using this resource as well as the TWO PAGE full color printable handout.

What age is this suitable for?

I have used it with my middle school students (grade 6-8) but it could be used with high school, college and community groups.

Check it out in my TpT store! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Handout-Printmaking-101-Vocabulary-and-Techniques-Notesheet-12064811

Positive and Negative Space Sketchbook Activity/Worksheet

Hello!

We are moving right along with a wonderful unit on Art Nouveau with the seventh graders (details of the process to come in future posts). Phase One: they are using Blick Ready Cut to create nature prints that demonstrate positive and negative space. I brought out a few fine art images and we discussed positive and negative space and I had them do a quick journal/sketchbook activity that is perfect for developing their print idea (I didn't want to influence the "nature" subject matter of their print design, so we did this exercise with art supplies I had in the classroom).

Positive/Negative Space Scissors

Image source: Matt Klaber at Butler Tech

First, I showed them this great illustration of positive and negative space from  Matt Klaber at Butler Tech.  I then had them:

1. Draw two boxes side by side on a page of their sketchbooks. 
2. Select an object from the bin of goodies I provided OR something in the room.
3. Using pencil, trace or draw that object as many times as they could in the boxes they created.
4. In one box, color the POSITIVE space using a marker of their choice. In the other box, color the NEGATIVE space with the same color.

Ta-da! Here's some results:

Binder Clip

Glue Stick

Hole Punch

Silk Flower

Masking Tape Roll

Fourth Grade Projects From My Long-Term Sub Gig

Here are some of the projects from my long-term sub gig that appear in the collage here so that you had a bit more info on them...ENJOY!! For the background about where I've been/what I've been doing lately, scroll to the end of the post...

Ahhh...Monet's waterlilies--what's not to love?
For details on this project, scroll on down...

Fourth Grade Projects From My Long-Term Sub Gig:

Week 1: Winter Assemblage (1 day) Full post here.

A getting-to-know-you project inspired by Louise Nevelson.

Students worked individually or with a partner to create a folded paper “box.” Students then used strips of paper and various paper folding techniques to create a dimensional relief inspired by winter. Individual student work was mounted together to create a whole-class composition displayed in the artroom.

What a fun project--it ended up being a great whole-grade
project and allowed students to collaborate--something I'm a HUGE fan of! 

Week 2 through 4: Monet Relief Landscapes (2 days) An alternate form of this project can be found here.
Inspired by Monet’s Waterlily paintings

Students used oil pastels with short strokes or color to create the “impression” of the water, vegetation and flowers seen in Monet’s gardens. The "base" for these pictures was a 4" x 6" index card from the dollar store (cheap!).

On week two, students could add dimensional details to their work such as tissue paper water lilies. Pieces were mounted onto mat board and presentation was discussed. I had picked up some mat board scraps that were sized perfectly for this project. Check around your area to see if you can find a framer who'll give you some scraps--mounting students' finished work really makes a difference (and "presenting" is part of the National Common Core Arts Standards!)

These came out so nice! I had wanted to do a display of them for the hallway (complete with a HUGE postcard from Monet), but I was afraid little fingers would pick off the lily pad tissue paper flowers--and many of the students wouldn't part with them and wanted to take them home ASAP!)--that is also why I don't have lots of examples of their work (I can't teach and take photos at the same time!).

While I encouraged students to add tissue paper water lilies,
I didn't force them. I love how graphic this bridge it--
it really stands out!

This is one of my favorites. I love the addition of the fish--
it looks like a koi pond.

Students needed to completely cover the white of the card
and use MANY colors in every section. 

Week 5 and 6: I am a STAR Project From the great Cassie Stephens, y'all

We talked about what makes us special (a.k.a. a "STAR"). Students created a folded 3D paper star and used Sharpie to add designs to each section of their star. They then used markers to add color to each section. 

Once they were done their star, students used metallic markers to write why they are a star (why they are special) onto the background paper. Once the star was adhered to the background, students used chalk pastels to add accent colors to their background. 

I don't have any picts of the stars the students did,
but here's the "test" one I did with my daughter who is in kindergarten.

The fourth graders didn't get quite as much art time with me as the other grade levels did. One week, they were on field trips another week I was at the NAEA conference in Chicago. Bummed about that, but I enjoyed getting to know them and creating art with them!

----------------
Backstory for this post:

So, it's been a busy Spring for me since I finished student teacherin' in December--I subbed a bit in preschool, kindergarten, elementary and high school and then landed a wonderful 6 1/2 weeks long-term sub gig at an elementary school nearby teaching art to grades K-5. What a blast I had--the students and staff at Fairgrounds rock and I was sad to go (it's hard to stop doing something you love when your next big thing isn't settled upon yet). Since then, I haven't blogged much because I've been daily subbing and working on my dang art teacher portfolio (more on that in a future post or ten). Check the sidebar (over on the right side of the blog) for other posts in this series (k-5 at Fairgrounds Elementary School). ENJOY!!

One Day GROUP Project: Winter Assemblage (Louise Nevelson)

This was a 1-day getting-to-know-you project I did with the fourth grade students at a school I am temporarily teaching at. I probably should have done an easier "box" as our base--I chose an origami version that we did as a class, step-by-step. Most of the classes were able to follow along, but one class struggled a bit with the creation of the boxes. The original post I saw for this project online, describes an easier "box." I may do that NEXT time.

This piece is about 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall--impressive!
I'm so proud of you, fourth graders!!

We looked at Louise Nevelson's work: "Sky Cathedral," from 1958, and then created our own relief assemblage inspired by winter.

VOCAB: origami, sculpture, relief, assemblage, sculptor, horizontal, vertical, space, form

CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTION: Science (seasons, winter), Language Arts (poetry)--if you have the students write a poem about the finished piece. Try this poem, here.

MATERIALS: One 9x12" piece of construction paper (for the box), multiple 1"x12" strips of construction paper (about 6 per child), little squares of white paper for snowflakes (optional), scissors, hole punch, glue sticks; for the teacher's use: hot glue gun and glue sticks, stapler

One day printmaking project: Winter Prints

I used this as an attention-getting 1-day project with the fifth graders at a school I am temporarily working at--I thought they would appreciate a hands-on project as we got to know each other the first day. 

Yeah, I know, first day printmaking-I'm a little crazy...

We used foam trays from the supermarket as their printmaking plate and they "carved" the plate with a pencil to make a relief. I didn't have them sketch their ideas out first--just grab a pencil and go (I know, super-risky, but it worked)! I had originally intended to have them create just snowmen, but a few branched out and did other winter-themed artwork (snowflakes, hot cups of cocoa, gingerbread houses and more). I'm fine with giving them creative choices and they were able to make a print (white ink on black paper) by the end of the class. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and they loved their prints!

P.S. I know that foam plates are not eco-friendly, but I had them already and I wanted to show the students they could create art with supplies they could find in their homes. Next week I'm going to show them how they can use washable markers to hand color a foam plate and make a monoprint like I described in this post.

It's all Greek to me! 6th Grade Greek Coins

This project is fast and fun and could also be used to explore ancient Rome or modern-day civilizations such as a specific state or country. For this project we used metal tooling foil available from Blick.com, but another teacher I know uses foil paper like this for her elementary students (a less expensive and less dangerous alternative since tooling metal can be a bit sharp for little fingers). I usually buy my tooling foil from Blick by the roll, but didn't see it on their site at this time. If you can afford the tooling metal, I recommend it and use it elsewhere  on my site for a variety of other projects. Students love it!

Finished coin designs were mounted onto mat board,
this helps to add stability to the flimsy metal and makes the pieces look more finished
(I referred to them as their "coin collections.").

Students researched Greek coins and looked at different artifacts and inspiration from ancient Greece and needed to come up with five coin designs. One design needed to have a plant or tree, one design needed to include a face or figure, and the third needed to depict a building. The other two designs were their choice. It is helpful to look at examples of real coins and note that they often include other information such as monetary value, country of origin, and possibly a slogan or motto.

Once the students were happy with their designs they could tool them onto the metal using a dull pencil--this creates a nice relief design. Finished coins were painted with watered-down tempera paint, and once dry, scrubbed lightly with steel wool to create an antique look and help define their designs.

The students had fun designing their own money and learned a great deal about ancient Greece at the same time! ENJOY!

Here's part of the display featuring our finished "coin collections."

What is it with spaceships?!
This student decided to create two modern designs that were not "antiqued"
and a more traditional design. While the students needed to create three designs
inspired by ancient Greece, their final three design choices were up to them.

I really like the "I love art" commemorative coin on the right!

6th Grade Radial Symmetry with Foam "Plates"

I love printmaking--especially with easy supplies that are on hand--and this project was perfect for my 6th grade students! We used foam trays from the supermarket as our "plates." The students carved them with dull pencils. 

The project is easy to do and the results are pretty fantastic (lots and "ooh's" and "ahh's" from the students!). Every student was required to create one composition on watercolor paper that had four prints on it. Students who finished quickly and/or who were motivated, could continue on to make a 16-print composition. Either way, they came out beautiful!

The same 3 1/2" printing plate was rotated and repeatedly printed four times
onto the same paper to create a radial print (drawing guide lines lightly in pencil helps to keep things straight).

Objective: Students will create a relief printing plate from foam and use printmaking ink to create a print that has a verity of lines and demonstrates radial symmetry.

Standards of Achievement: Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Carving

Subject Integration: Math

Vocab: radial, linear, symmetry, line, quadrants, print, printmaking, plate, relief, pressure, ink, brayer, construction lines, repetition, relief, styrofoam, transfer

Duration: 4 class (45 minutes each)

Additional references:

This lesson is based on a lesson from Art With Mrs. Nguyen (formally Ms. Graham). She did this project with 4th grade students, but I felt it was just right for my 6th graders as well. I also showed the students the video on Buddhist sand art Mrs. Nguyen suggests on her site, as well as some images of Spanish tiles and Islamic art.

Definitely a keeper! Enjoy!

The completed bulletin board display.  We had our final debrief in from of this display
and added the vocabulary words you see as part of the debrief.

This student created their design a little differently, but it works.

Neatly done!

Look at that detail--from a foam printing plate--AMAZING!

Lovely!

This design is a little off, but created a nice spiral effect.
The success rate on this project was very high for all students.

Here you can see how the 16 mini prints can be combined into
a larger composition. This student wanted to use four different inks
in their work (I hadn't thought of that!). The students are so creative!

This design is great too. Doing the 16 print compositions definitely require
more fortitude from the students, but are truly stunning when done.

Grade 5 Tooled Metal Lines and Patterns

My fifth grade students loved this great little project. We talked about different types of lines (dotted, straight, curved, dashed, etc.) and pattern. I gave the students four little 3 1/2" square pieces of white paper and they could create little compositions that included line and pattern.

Once they were done, they selected one of their compositions to tool into metal. This is a very neat media to work with and this relief technique is called repoussé which is French for "to push back." You can get the tooling foil online at Dick Blick. It is quite reasonably priced--I was able to get enough 3 1/2" and 4" squares for multiple classes from one roll with some left over.  The foil is easy to cut and use (I use a box cutter but you can use scissors too). To make the marks, I have students use a dull pencil on the metal while it is on a piece of felt that has been folded in half to make a double-thickness. Sometimes students need to go over their lines twice to make a nice, deep mark, but otherwise students have a high rate of success with this media. 

Once the metal portion of the project was done, I gave each student an 8" x 10" piece of mat board and they could take a pencil and extend the patterns and lines beyond the metal square over the surface of the mat board. They then colored the lines and patterns on the mat board with oil pastels. Once done, we hot glued the metal squares to the mat board. 

I think they came out beautiful!

Students could place the tooled metal square wherever they liked
on the mat board (in the center, off to the side, etc.). They then used
color, line and pattern to fill up the space.

The students were VERY engaged during this project and loved the results. The photos don't do them justice--they are beautiful and colorful. ENJOY!

The partially completed bulletin board that shows the variety of the work.
BEAUTIFUL!

When they were done, I had them affix all four of their design squares (the preliminary sketches they did on paper) to a worksheet and fill out a self-assessment on the back.

P.S. For additional tooled metal projects, check out my Mexican Folk Art Ornaments and Mexican Folk Art Trinket Boxes. 

After School Printmaking Workshop

Yesterday I had fun experimenting with printmaking techniques with some 9- to 12-year-olds. It always amazes me how much fun students have with printmaking. I love it too!

We only had an hour and a half, so we began by doing a reductive print by slowly destroying a foam plate using tools that are easy to find around the house and studio: plastic knives, popsicle sticks, skewers, pen caps, etc. Students were asked to make two types of marks on their plate, print it, return and make more marks on their same plate, print it AGAIN on top of the first print, and then repeat one more time. We could have spent the entire class doing this one project, since some students needed time to "see" how things would turn out. Overall, they were pretty impressed by the beautiful layers that were created in their pieces.

When they were done that, I showed them how to use a plexiglass plate and add shapes and letters using sticky-back foam to make a relief plate. The students really went crazy with this idea and some created three plates in a short period of time. Most created their names or initials but some created trees, hearts, dragons and more.

Supplies we used for the workshop:

• Foam veggie trays (don't use meat trays)
• Found tools (mentioned above and hole punches, decorative scissors, etc--pretty much anything that will marks foam in a neat way)
• Speedball printmaking inks (water soluble in red, blue, yellow, white, gold)
• Speedball soft rubber brayer (roller)
• Sticky-backed craft foam
• Plexiglass scraps (do not use shatter-resistant)

Have a great day!

Soap Carving and a Collaborative Totem Pole

In my Tribal Art of North America class, we were able to do a fun technique that the students always enjoy: soap carving. I've done soap carving with my students before when I taught Inuit carvings (see my original  post here). This time, I thought the children could carve the soap and work together to make a totem pole.

The completed Totem Pole--each of the students
created a section (one animal). I placed them on
a background that looked like sky just to snap the picture.

I found a great handout online about totem poles. It gave some background information as well as great images of some typical animals that appear on totem poles along with a description about the symbolism of each animal. The children chose one of the animals to replicate in soap and began carving with their tools: a vegetable peeler, plastic spoon and a toothpick. Features such as beaks, tongues and wings that protruded far away from the main carving were added later using craft foam. I had a sheet of white craft foam on hand for these "extras," but encouraged the children to do most of their carving in the soap.

Detail of the BEAR (symbol of power on the earth).
The tongue is made with a bit of craft foam.

Once the children were done carving their individual totem animals, we put them together into one totem pole and I snapped a picture. The children took their individual pieces of the totem pole home, but before they left, they had enough time to create a second carving of their choosing that was more like the Inuit. We had a great discussion of how different their two sculptures were: the totem was more of a shallow carving meant to be viewed from a very limited radius, but the Inuit-inspired carving was meant to be held and seen from all angles. The carving was much more intense on the Inuit piece in that they had to think about removing the excess and accurately carving their animal on a variety of planes.

And here's one of the Inuit carvings: a polar bear.
These soap carvings are hard to take pictures of
with my camera--sorry they are blurry!

The children did a great job! ENJOY!

What a Relief! Monet Waterlilies

Last week my Modern Art class created pictures based on van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting. The focus was on little strokes of color and using MANY colors in each section. It seemed to me that a natural next step would be to learn about Monet. With this project, the students could, again, work from a reproduction in order to increase their awareness of the artist's technique and color choices, and build on what they learned last week.

Monet also used little dashes of color in his work. We used oil pastels to create our dashes of color. I told the children that we weren't doing to connect these dashes with watercolor paint like we did last week in our van Gogh pieces--this week they needed to cover the entire surface of their piece with dashes of color. To make this less daunting, I reduced the size of the paper. I also used a nice blue color of matte board as their "base." This way, if a bit of blue poke through between the dashes, it still looked like water.

Monet also used MANY colors in his work. We listed all the colors we saw in the reproductions in front of us and pretty much determined that we could use all of the oil pastels in our kits (they are a collection of 12 colors). I asked them to try to use every color at least once in their backgrounds. This wasn't a set rule (like my three-colors-in-each-section rule of last week), but I wanted them to try MANY colors.

We then created the lily pads and lilies separately and attached them. The children were open to working in this way since the "collage technique" was similar to the van Gogh pieces they had made the week before. The lilies are created using tissue paper "puffs" and stick out from the background. This is not 3D, since we can't completely walk around the piece and see it from all sides, but is called a relief.

I had never done a lesson like this before, but I was VERY happy with it. I love the dashes of color and the bright hues of the oil pastels!

Monet Water Lily Relief

Supplies Needed:

• Reproduction of one of Monet's Water Lily Paintings
• Matte Board scrap in a medium blue (or other watery color), ours were 8" x 10"
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Masking tape
• Oil pastels (ours were "Cray•pas" brand, a set of 16)
• Scrap pieces of poster board or white card stock (for lily pads)
• Scissors
• Scrap bits of tissues paper in a variety of peach, pink, white, yellow colors (three colors at least)
• Clear tape
• Tacky glue

Directions:

1. Use the ruler to create a 1" border around the edge of your matte board--all four sides.

2. Attach pieces of masking tape to the matter board, using your pencil lines as a guide, to create a nice taped "frame" around the edge of the matte board. When you are done, you'll be removing the tape and this will leave a nice clean edge around your piece. **TIP: stick the masking tape strips to your shirt before placing them on the matte board so they loose some of their stickiness and are easier to remove later on.**

3. Begin filling in the background of your piece using the oil pastels. You will want to use little dashes of color--using the end of the oil pastel will give you a nice thick dash. You can change colors and layer dashes over one another. Make sure you aren't scribbling like you do with a crayon--dash, dash, dash...filling in the water and the plants on the edge of the water.

4. Once the background is done, draw three ovals with pencil onto the white card stock. The ovals should be about 1 1/2" wide. These are your lily pads. Fill in the lily pads using at least three colors (ha! I had to say it!). Cut the ovals out and put a little slit in each one coming from one edge into the center. Put aside.

5. Cut or rip three tissue paper squares. They should be of a couple different colors and be around 1 1/2" square. Layer them and pinch the center and give them a twist to make a little "pouf" of tissue paper. This will be your water lily. Insert the twisted tip of the water lily into the slit of the lily pad you created. Tape the point of the tip to the backside of the lily pad with clear tape to secure them together. Repeat with the other lily pads you have created.

6. Put a dab of glue on the back of each lily pad and place them onto the background. If you'd like, you can add some lily pads to the background with oil pastels. This gives the illusion of depth in your picture, but it is not necessary.

Medieval Metalwork

This week, in my art class, I showed the children how to do a simple technique that looks like aged metal. The children created frames and crosses and then added faux gemstones for a little sparkle!

Jewel-encrusted antique metalwork frame.

This year's art classes are all about Medieval times. We've done shields with coat-of-arms, marionettes of kings and princesses, stained glass dragons, and many other projects you'll soon be seeing in this blog (one day at a time!!). This week, I decided to have the children do a project that simulates metalwork. I was thinking of those large, heavy covers of illuminated manuscripts that were pieces of wood covered with tooled sheets of gold and inlaid with real gemstones (see below). Since my budget is a bit more limited than that--I thought we could use tin foil and plastic gems from a craft store.

Background Information:

Since medieval manuscripts would take many years to create and often were the life's work of many of the artists, the covers of these books were often just as elaborate. The covers were often a plank of wood covered with gold, jewels, enamelwork, precious metals, and ivory. One such example of this type of ornate work is the cover of the Lindau Gospels entitled, "Crucifixion with Angels and Mourning Figures." This piece is from The Pierpont Morgan Library in New York.

The cover from the Lindau Gospels uses a technique called repoussé "a technique by which metal reliefs are created. Thin sheets of metal are gently hammered from the back to create a protruding image. More elaborate reliefs are created with wooden forms against which the metal sheets are pressed (Art History: Volume 1, by Marilyn Stokstad, 1995)."

The project below is very similar to this technique. Enjoy!

Supplies Needed:

• Corrugated cardboard cut into a frame shape (6 1/2" x 8') or a cross (a 3" x 7" piece of cardboard glued to a 3" x 11" piece of cardboard)
• Self adhesive foam letters and shapes (optional)
• Yarn
• PVA glue (I use Elmer's glue)
• Paintbrush
• Water bowl and water
• Scissors
• Aluminum foil (standard household foil is fine)
• Clear tape
• Black tempura paint
• Paper plate for a palette
• Facial tissue
• Glue gun and hot glue sticks (optional)
• Plastic jewels (I bought mine at Michael's--they had a value pack of 1pound of "bling")

Directions:

1. If you are creating a frame, think about which way you'd like to have the picture displayed. This is important if you are doing lettering on your frame.

Here you can see the cardboard piece I'll be using for my frame as well as an easel-backed piece of cardboard from an old frame that I later glued onto the finished frame. That part is optional,

2. Create a design on the cardboard frame (or cross) using self adhesive letters and shapes. Words and phrases such as, "family," "best friends," "love," or your last name work well. You can also use yarn for the letters and shapes (and also for lines). Put a line of glue onto the cardboard and then gently press the yarn into it. Keep your design simple.

3. Once you have your design done, brush a thin coat of white glue all over frame. You can brush right over the foam shapes because the adhesive on the back of the shapes is nice and strong, but go gently over the yarn. You will want to go along the edges of the yarn you have glued down so that you don't mess up your design.

My design is done. Now I can brush white glue over the entire design.

4. Take a piece of foil that is slightly larger than your piece and gently crumple it--not too much or it will tear when you open it back up. Open the foil back up and smooth it a bit. Now lay it onto the frame over the glue on your design. Press gently all over your design, around the letter and shapes.

Gently smooth the foil over the design. Press gently around the yarn and foam shapes (if using). Be careful not to use your nails, since the foil will tear easily.

5. Flip the piece over and tape the extra foil to the back of the cardboard. If you are doing a frame, you'll need to gently cut an "x" in the foil in the center portion of the frame and fold back the foil there (and tape it to the back of the frame) so that you'll be able to see the picture in the center of your frame.

6. Now comes the messy part! Squeeze a bit of black tempera paint onto the paper plate. Dip your paintbrush into water and mix it in the paint to thin the paint a bit. Brush the thinned tempera paint over the entire front of your frame.

7. Now....wait! Leave your frame to dry for 10-15 minutes. While it is drying you can draw a picture to go in your frame. Will the picture be of your family? A pet? A medieval scene with a knight and a dragon?

8. Once the time is up and your paint is not quite dry, gently buff off the paint with a piece of facial tissue (it may take your piece a bit longer to be ready to buff--the paint should be "almost dry"). The more black you leave, the more "antique" the frame will look.

9. Use a hot glue gun, white glue, or tacky glue to attach jewels to the frame.

I live this tacky glue in a squeeze tube!

10. Attach your picture to the back--and you are ready to display your medieval work of art!

Variation: Easter is a wonderful time to do this project and create a cross! This technique makes a beautiful cross that looks unique. It is a nice project to do as a family--certainly a conversation-starter on many levels! Enjoy!

The same technique can be used to create a cross. I left a good amount of the paint on the edges to give this cross a very old feel. This picture doesn't do it justice--the jewels really shine and add sparkle. This would also be a nice gift idea.