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.

You Gotta Try It! Super-Easy Monoprint Foam Plate Printmaking

I love printmaking and can't believe that I didn't take printmaking in college (my art program was so full--I barely had any electives). I'm a self-taught printmaker, and since I don't have a printmaking press, and I have four kiddos around, I like to find easy ways to create prints that they can do too. This here project is definitely one you have to try--either by yourself, with your children, or in the classroom. It is that fun and easy and uses supplies you already have on hand...

Look at this beautiful print created by my five-year-old! Love it!

And this one was done by me showing a more abstract possibility...
perhaps exploring line.

According to DCimPRINT, what we are doing here is a monoprint (versus a monotype--different thing--read more about this here). With a monoprint, a plate is incised, color applied, and a print is made. They say:

"Monoprints are the outcome of matrices that have permanent features, and can be considered variations on a theme.  The theme is the result of permanent features of the plate (such as a silkscreen template or etched lines). Variations on the theme are made when the plate is inked differently prior to each print. Possibilities for variance are infinite, and include monoprints of different color, ink density, or even size, but certain permanent features on the plate will always carry on 

from one print to another." --DCimPRINT

Because the plate is colored by hand before each print, prints can vary greatly; that is truly the fun of this project...check it out...

Supplies needed:

• Foam tray from the supermarket (I use the green ones from veggies--not meat). These can be purchased in bulk from some nice supermarkets for pennies a piece.
• Scissors
• Crayola washable markers (I didn't use the ultra washable ones--just the ones you see in the photo)
• A dull pencil
• A sponge and a bit of water
• White paper (I used some cheap-o paper I had, you should use drawing paper that can handle ink--DO NOT use construction paper, it won't hold up to the water).

Directions:

1. Remove the rims from the edges of the foam tray using scissors. Our finished piece of foam was roughly 3 1/2" x 8," but you can use any size for this).
2. Use a dull pencil to draw a design into the foam plate. A simple activity would be to draw different types of lines (straight, curved, zig zag, etc.), but you could draw a recognizable image. The dots you see on our designs were done by poking the plate with the dull pencil.
3. Use the markers to apply color to the plate between the lines you created. Cover the entire plate with color. Older children can experiment with layering colors within sections.
4. Prepare your paper: Cut the paper to size (a little larger than your plate). Use a slightly wet sponge to dampen your paper. You don't want the paper too wet, so you'll have to play around with this a bit. 
5. Place the dampened paper onto the hand-colored plate and press gently, using your hand to smooth the paper onto the plate. I also use the damp sponge to smooth the paper onto the plate--don't scrub the paper or it will shift (and create a blurry image) or the paper will tear.
6. Remove the paper and let dry.

At this time, you can recolor the plate to make another print. Try changing your colors this time or swapping plates with a friend and coloring their plate. You can keep the print as is (a nice work of art on its own) or use your print to create a card or bookmark (like we did).

Have fun with this easy and fun printmaking project!

Thinking of warm weather and our favorite pastime... 

And a minion card for a friend
(this one was colored by my five-year-old).

And the finished prints can be folded in half, glued and laminated
to make bookmarks. These were some of the ones we created.
The tassels are "Loops and Threads Craft Thread"
which is a bit thicker than embroidery floss.

And here's a close-up of one of the finished bookmarks.
This would be a fun project for a month when your school
celebrates reading.

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.

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!

Printmaking: Warhol Self Portraits

For my last after school Modern Art class I wanted my students to explore the work of Andy Warhol. Last time we studied Warhol, we did the Handy Andy prints (which are a popular one on my blog and with my students). This time, I wanted to have them try printmaking so they could explore the Pop Art  repetitive printed images of Warhol's. With this project we are using foam trays to make a printmaking plate similar to a linocut or woodcut, but without the sharp tools.

This student loves to create Manga-inspired art.
I love this piece because it shows her interests and
is definitely a POP art piece--Warhol would be impressed!

This was a great first "real" printmaking project and the results are always so bright and fun. Some children really embrace this technique and I had one student complete TWO projects with the class time since she was having some much fun. I also did the project one-on-one with my Kindergardener and he loved it too. Clean-up is great since I used water-soluble printmaking ink (although I would love to try something in the future that is more permanent so that the kids could add color with watercolors afterwards...).

This might be a bit of an expense to buy the roller (brayer) if you are doing this project at home, but once you have the supplies on had you ca make a bunch of great prints for gifts, stationary, etc. Give it a try!

Faux Linocut Warhol Self Portraits

Supplies Needed:
Adjust the dimensions of your supplies based on the size of the foam trays you are using...

• A few 4" x 5 1/2" pieces of white paper for drawing your design 
• Pencils and erasers
• Foam trays or styrofoam plates
• Masking tape
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• A scrap piece of cardboard or mat board slightly larger than your foam printing "plate"
• Water soluble printmaking ink
• Brayer (I use the Speedball 4" soft rubber brayer)
• A few 5" x 7" pieces of colored paper (smooth paper with bright colors work well)
• Glue stick
• Large piece of construction paper to mount the finished prints on

Directions:

1. Use the pencil to draw a simple self portrait on the white piece of paper. Make it unique--just like you, but don't get too detailed. 

2. Place the drawing onto the foam tray and tape down. Trace the lines of your drawing with a dull pencil. Press down enough to leave an impression in the foam tray, but not hard enough to poke all the way through the foam or shred the paper drawing. This takes some practice...using the pencil at a slight angle helps. Once you've traced the drawing, remove the drawing and go over the lines you made in the foam tray to make them a bit deeper.

3. Mount your finished foam printing plate to the cardboard using hot glue.

4. Squeeze some printmaking ink onto a spare foam plate or foam tray. Use your brayer (roller) to move the ink around, coating the roller with ink. You don't need it gooping with ink--a nice even coating works best. Roll the inked brayer over your foam printing plate. Lay a piece of colored paper o top of the inked printing plate and press gently with your fingertips. I had the children use one hand to hold the paper still while the other rubbed the image. Remove the paper to see the transferred image. 

5. Repeat as may times as you wish. I had the children make at least four copies of the image ad the they mounted them onto a larger piece of construction paper once the prints were dry.

Enjoy!

This guy is super-cute, too! 

Love the freckles!

And this piece is super-sweet! It makes me smile!

Rockin' Robins

In Art/Nature Camp, we talked about birds. We went on a hike and I gave each of the children a homemade pair of binoculars to help them with their bird watching. As we hiked around we looked for signs of birds and, of course, actual birds. Signs of birds included: bird droppings, nests, bird feeders and bird houses. I had a couple of bird identification books on hand in case we spotted birds.

Rockin' Robins--simple and fun!

We discussed what makes a bird:

• Have bills, but no teeth
• Have feathers
• Hatch from eggs
• Have wings (but not all can fly!)
• Have hollow bones
• Breathe oxygen
• Are Warm blooded

And then we talked about the parts of a bird:

• Head (with two eyes and a bill)
• Body (with feathers)
• Two Wings (more feathers)
• Two Legs and Feet

We then created Rockin' Robins. This is an easy craft that is inexpensive to make. The resulting bird easily rocks back and forth--it's up to you to sing, though! My students and my children particularly loved hearing me sing "Rockin' Robin" to them (poor guys!).

Rockin' Robins

Supplies Needed:

• One lightweight paper plate
• Pencil
• Crayons (brown and red are what we used)
• Scraps pieces of brown and yellow construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Eyeball stickers (optional, you could use white paper and draw two eyes)
• Feathers
• 5" piece of yarn
• Tape

Directions:

1. Write your name on the side of the paper plate you would eat off of.

2. Fold the paper plate in half with the name on the inside.

3. Open up the plate and color a 1" wide border of red around the entire plate. This will be the robin's red breast and belly when the bird is finished.

4. Color the center circle of the plate brown. This will be the robin's back when the bird is finished.

5. Cut a triangle of yellow construction paper for the beak. Attach to the underside of the plate at one of the fold lines for the beak of the bird.

6. Add two eyes to your bird. I found some neat eyeball stickers in the supply closet at PMEC, but you can cut them from construction paper.

7. Cut two brown wings from construction paper and glue to each side of the bird.

8. Glue feathers to the wings and at the tail end of the bird.

9. We taped a piece of string to the underside of our birds to keep the two edges of the plate from moving apart (and make it so the robin was able to rock back and forth).

The underside view of the Robin, showing the yarn
that we taped to the bottom to keep it from flattening out.

Sing the song as your Robin rocks out!

Rockin' Robin (Excerpt)

Originally performed by Bobby Day

He rocks in the treetops all the day long

Hoppin' and a Boppin' and a-singin' his song

All the Little Birds on Jaybird Street

Love to hear the robin goin' "Tweet, Tweet, Tweet!"

Rockin' Robin

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

Rocking Robin

Tweet, Tweet, Tweet

Go Rockin' Robin 'cause we're really gonna rock tonight!

Super Simple Dream Catcher From a Paper Plate

Third son had a terrible dream last night. It didn't help that he fell out of bed (which I hadn't heard but was described by my first son as "something crashed into the house--it made the whole house shake!" A few minutes later I heard the little guy crying and went in & located him (still on the floor). He was shaking and crying and still dreaming away. Man, that's tough!

$1 for the pony beads at the Dollar Store and $2 for feathers-
the rest of the supplies I had on hand. What a nice and easy craft!

So today, we made a super simple dream catcher to hang above his bed to catch all of his bad dreams. This is a lovely craft to do as part of a summer camp, Native American craft session or part of the library's summer reading program (our local library's theme this summer is "Dream Big!").

Well here's the super simple dream catcher and may all of your dreams be pleasant!

Paper Plate Dream Catcher

Supplies Needed:

• One paper plate
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Yarn (four 12" sections and one 48" section)
• Clear tape
• Pony beads
• Feathers (ours were about 3 1/2-4" long)
• Markers

Directions:

1. Cut a 5" (or so) circle from the center of the paper plate, leaving the outer rim of the plate intact.

2. Use the hole punch to make a series of holes every inch or so around the inner edge of the ring.

3. Use markers to decorate the ring with patterns and images as desired.

4. Weave the 48" piece of yarn through the holes in the inner edge of the ring going across the ring to create a web for the bad dreams to get caught in. This is the fun part--even young children can relax and weave this inner section. The funkier, the better! We secured the beginning and ends of our yarn to the back of the ring with clear tape.

5. Use the hole punch to create a single hole at the top of the ring to hang the dream catcher. Make a loop from one of the 12" long strands of yarn, run it through the hole and knot it to secure. If you like, you can string a couple of pony beads onto the hanging loop to add some color.

6. Use the hole punch to create three holes about an inch apart along the bottom edge of the dream catcher. Feed the remaining 12" strands of yarn through the holes and double knot to secure. Feed pony beads onto the yarn coming from each hole. Knot and then use clear tape to attach a feather to the bottom of each strand. Trim excess yarn with scissors. Repeat to make three strands of beads with feathers coming off the bottom of the dream catcher. I made the center stand slightly longer than the other two.

7. Hang above your bed to catch all of those bad dreams! Nighty-night!

Words of Wisdom From 2nd Graders...

Another project I was able to do at a local elementary school, before the end of the year, was the paper plate fish project relating to the book "Only One You." My original post is here.

"Be Artistic!" What a great idea!!

I had the teacher  share the book with the children before I arrived and get them thinking of "words of wisdom" that they could impart to others. This was a great thing to do before my arrival so they were ready to go on the art project!

I started my presentation, by sitting with them and the book and talking with them about it. I did a quick recap of the plot and then we looked at the book from an artistic point of view. This was a good discussion in realism, pattern, line and repetition.

Then we got to work! I wasn't sure if the lesson would engage all of the students since I hadn't done this project with a group before (only my "test subjects" at home). It went VERY well! The project kept the children engaged the entire time and their words of wisdom were wonderful! There are some very wise second graders in Mrs. Bevilacqua's class!

As you can see, each fish was so unique!

This one gives new meaning to "Rainbow Fish." Beautiful!

Some of these read: "Think Positively" and "Don't Lie"

"Have a Vivid Imagination," "Be Unique," and "Be Careful"

Inspiring Art Books: "Only One You," by Linda Kranz

I'm an avid reader and I'm always looking for ways to create a multi-layered experience in the art classroom: music, movement, looking at a real piece of artwork, performing a play, etc. I also like to bring in books to share. This is kind of tricky since I have a short period of time to teach and I don't want to spend the whole class reading a book AND some children want to get creating when they get to my classroom (and won't sit still for me to read an entire book)....BUT, nonetheless, I keep trying!

Sometimes I show them the pictures (illustrations) from the book and comment about the images and then while the children are working I actually READ the book to them. This seems to be what works right now with my students.

Anyway...I heard about this great little book and it is perfect for an art project! "Only One You," by Linda Kranz, is a wonderfully colorful book full of great litle nuggets of wisdom. The story itself is of a mother and father fish imparting words to live by to their son, Adri. The illustrations are simple and combine underwater photo backgrounds with rocks painted to look like fish. But these aren't the fish you are used to--they are painted with tons of bright colors and patterns--the artwork is truly inspiring! And don't miss the endpapers (the paper on the inside of the front and back covers), they are filled with little sayings that are great and are good reminders to us all.

Of course, you could paint rocks to link to this book, but I thought a project I saw on Art Moments could be tweaked a bit and work nicely.

Only One ME Paper Plate Fish

Supplies Needed:

• Paper plate
• Pencil and eraser
• Scissors
• Glue stick and Elmer's glue
• Sharpie or other black permanent marker
• Colored markers (we used Crayola washable markers)
• Large sheet of blue construction paper (12" x 18")
• Green and brown construction paper
• The book, "Only One You," for inspiration!

Directions:

1. Cut away a triangle shape from one side of the paper plate to create the fish's mouth. Glue the triangular piece you removed onto the side of the fish opposite the mouth to represent the fish's tail (see photo).

2. Use the pencil and draw an eye, lips, and a fin on your fish.

3. Look at the book for inspiration and discuss line, pattern, color, etc. With younger children, you may want to have them practice drawing lines and patterns to get their creative juices flowing. Use the pencil  to divide the areas of the fish into different patterns. The sky's the limit!

4. Once the fish is all patterned-up, have the child draw over the pencil lines with a permanent black marker (if you use a washable marker for this, it will bleed later on). Erase the pencils lines after you've inked the entire fish.

5. Fill in the areas of the fish with color using the markers. Everyone's fish will be different, and that's the point! Make sure the fish is nice and colorful!

6. Have the child rip green and brown paper for the seaweed and ground and adhere them to the blue construction paper background using a glue stick. I used Elmer's glue to adhere the fish to the background.

7. You could add another layer to this project by having the child either write his/her name in a speech bubble coming from the fish's mouth OR have the fish be imparting a bit of wisdom. The children can make up their own bit of advice or use one of the quotes from inside the end pages of the "Only One You" book such as: "Enjoy Every Day."

Another great idea for this project would be to create a bulletin board with all the fish from one class. Decorate the bulletin board with blue paper and add seaweed and a ground from ripped construction paper. Then add a special quote from the book or one that has particular meaning to your class and arrange all of the fish around the quote.

No matter how you do this project, it is a great way to learn some of the basic elements of art while allowing children to express their individuality. The words of wisdom will also spark quite a bit of discussion, no matter what age group you try this project with. Enjoy!

Rainbow Turtle Craft

Are you looking for a quick, easy craft to make your preschooler smile and give you a few minutes to make dinner? Then try this flexible turtle craft! How can a turtle be flexible, you ask? Well, this can be a purely for fun activity or you can adapt it to be a learning activity. You can use sharpies, crayons, paints--whatever you have on hand that works with your idea or lesson plan!

Happy Rainbow Turtle!

A few ideas to try:

• Colors of the rainbow (labeled with the names of the colors or not).
• Numbers (put a different number in each section of the turtle shell and have your child put that number of stickers in each section)
• Different Lines or Patterns (fill each section with a different line type or pattern)
• When done, you could make a tambourine or shaker (not for little ones under 3 years of age due to choking hazard).

The ideas for this craft are endless. I'd love to see some examples of how you and your children decide to use this craft idea! ENJOY!

Rainbow Turtles:

Supplies Needed:

• Two paper plates that are the same size
• Pencil and ruler
• Sharpie or black marker
• Crayons, markers or paints
• Scrap pieces of construction paper for head, feet and tail. Color, your choice.
• Clear tape
• Stapler

Directions:

1. Draw an octagon, or similar shape, in the center of one of the paper plates. I traced a puzzle piece from one of our puzzles. Then, draw a line from each of the points of the octagon to the edge of the plate creating 9 sections total. This can be divided however will work for you and your children (and the lesson you are teaching). Don't stress, draw the best you can. Have fun!

2. Go over your pencil lines with marker, if desired, to make them stand out more and make the sections easier for your child to see.

3. Labels the sections with color names and have your child fill them in using crayons, markers, etc.

4. Cut out a head, four legs and a tail from construction paper. Have your child draw a face on the turtle head and then tape the body parts to the bottom side of the plate. 

5. Attach a second plate, flipped the opposite way, to become the underside of your turtle. Staple the two plates together around the rim, making sure to go through the turtle body parts to secure the layers altogether. **If you want to turn this project into a music-making shaker, insert a few dried beans in between the plates before securing them together. You may want to use extra staples or glue to make sure the plates are securely fastened and the dried beans do not come out. Either way, you'll want to keep this craft away from anyone under 3 due to the small parts that will create a choking hazard.