Gelli Prints

Gelli Prints...something I'd wanted to try, but hadn't gotten around to until today and I'm so glad I did.  Made a small plate by whisking 3 pouches of gelatin into a cup of boiling water which I then poured into the plastic lid of a take-out container.  I was surprised how fast the plate set up...it was firm within 45 minutes but we let it set out overnight and printed the next morning. 

After running around the house and collecting our texture items:  string, mesh onion bag, combs, paper stencils, buttons, coins, leaves, we rolled block printing ink onto the plate and started printing. We started with block printing inks but soon got bored with the limited colors and broke out the bin of acrylic paints which worked a lot better.  

I have to say the process was addictive.  We put on some music and printed all day long.  What a fun day.  Really relaxing and there's really no wrong way of doing this.  Every print offers a new and surprising result.  Just fabulous.

Definitely going to be trying this out with kids soon. 

Pre-School Snip and Print Valentine

A taped area on the table is painted pink and red.  On the paint we place our paper hearts.  

We roll the paper and pull our prints.

Printmaking for Kids

Oh, I love printmaking.  And I love sharing this media with children.  Kids I think, take to printmaking like fish to water and it has always been my experience that children with special needs, or children who struggle with fine motor skills, are drawn to printmaking like no other media.
You know I love owls.  I seem to return to this subject each year in a variety of ways.  So many cultures recognize owls for their wisdom, their mystery, and their magic.  Perhaps it's their silent flight.  Maybe it's the beautiful patterning on their feathers.  Anyway I think owls make an interesting subject for student art.  My third graders requested an owl project so I gave them this.

They began by sketching from resource photos I downloaded from the web.  Their value sketches were amazing...but that's another story.  After practicing, they created a line drawing on a half sheet of copy paper.  This was their first experience with printmaking so we talked about the differences between a print and a drawing...especially concerning color.  I stressed the importance of pattern in their design.

Their design was then taped to a Styrofoam printing plate and they drew over their lines pressing in the design.  The paper was lifted and they drew very carefully over their lines one more time to deepen them. Ticonderoga Kindergarten Pencils work great for this step with their broad rounded tip.    I help my students cut out their plate because I'm afraid of cracking, but they could probably do this step themselves.

I also attach a folded piece of tape to serve as a handle and write the student's name on the plate.  It's helpful, I think, to demonstrate the process of printing while they are in the designing phase.  Printmaking can get hectic and it's good for students to see the steps demonstrateded twice.  I especially stress the importance of keeping clean in making a successful print.

You can see my complete process here.
If you don't have a stack of scrap papers on hand... then run to your school recycle bin and pick up a few discarded magazines or catalogs.  .  Rip the cover off any catalog and lay the printing plate on page one.  Ink it up.  Tear off page one and discard.  Lay a paper on a second catalog.  Place your plate on paper.  Use a cover sheet and roll with a brayer.  Throw away the cover sheet and top sheet of the magazine and put your print on the rack.
Kids get back in line ready to print again...I teach the kids to place the plate "in the parking lot" while waiting for their next turn.  The parking lot is a waiting place on the table for printing plates so they're not walking around with inky plates.
You can use tempera paints to print.  You can mix paint with Elmer's glue.  But I use Speedball water based block printing ink for consistently good results.
Happy printing.

Gelatin Prints

This looks like fun!

Fish Pond Printing

Our fish prints are done, and boy are they cute.  To make them, kindergarten and first grade blew bubbles into a bowl of soapy water into which blue liquid water color paint had been added.  When the bubbles rose up over the rim of the bowl they gently pressed their paper onto the bubbles filling their paper with a foamy print and we set these aside to dry.
During our next class we did some practice drawing about fish.  We noticed oval shaped bodies and triangular tails.  We practiced drawing fins and scales.  When kids had a fish they were satisfied with they drew their final design on a piece of 3"X4" copy paper.  The paper was taped onto a piece of Styrofoam and kids drew over their lines pressing hard to make an impression in the foam, and we cut them out.
On week three we set up a printing station and kids inked up their printing plates and printed them onto their bubble print.  I folded a piece of masking tape on itself and taped the ends to the back of the printing plate to make a little handle for the kids lift their plate off the paper.  We worked in small groups, and kids cycled through the centers we now have up and running again.
Lots of fun watching little ones become printmakers.
Recipe for bubble prints:
Into a cereal-sized bowl add a squirt of liquid soap, a squirt of liquid watercolor, and the tiniest amount of water to barely cover the bottom of the straw.  Bubble away!

Nature Printing on Day Two: Nature Sketchbooks

We revisited our great big leaf print rubbings today to try out two more printmaking techniques. For the first round, students worked with a partner.  One student was the printer, and the other was the helper.  We tried using the leaf as a stencil.  The printer decided where to place the leaf print.  The printer placed the leaf vein side up on the paper.  The helper placed a finger in the center of the leaf to hold it still.  The printer painted off the edge of the leaf to make the print.  When the print was complete the partners switched roles.
After a few prints, when the leaf was almost completely covered with paint and there was barely enough room for that little finger, we noticed we could flip the leaf over, cover it with scrap paper, and press out a beautiful print.  We also noticed we could combine these two methods. 
When students return to the art room next week we'll be making rubber band sketchbooks.  Our leaf prints will make a beautiful cover.  Students are really excited about the books and so am I.

Our book covers are cut to size 12" X 6 1/2", which is then folded in half.  The pages shown are plain white copy paper, but you could use any kind of scrap for the pages.  The pages measure slightly smaller than the cover, are folded in half and bound with a rubber band.
I hope our sketchbooks inspire lots drawing from nature.  Maybe a homemade twig pencil would be a great accompaniment.  We'll keep you posted.

Inspired by Nature

We begin the year by thinking about the different ways that nature influences and inspires art and artists.  As our older students explore the Land Art Movement, the younger artists are busy making autumn leaf prints.  These projects are still in progress, and I'll post more photos as the work evolves.  Below you can see primary students collaborating on a large leaf print rubbing.  We made the rubbing by arranging leaves, vein side up, under a large sheet of paper.  We taped the edges and used homemade chunk crayons to make this rubbing.  The kids really loved the rainbow-colored chunk crayons which are, of course, made by melting the bits and pieces of old crayons in a muffin tin.  (350 degrees, 10 minutes). We added a watercolor resist to our leaf print rubbing and then set it aside to dry.
When we return to the art room, we'll explore two more ways of leaf printing on these large papers.  Then we'll cut them up to make something special.

Aren't Field Trips Fun? and a Quick Printmaking Activity

On Thursday April 8th, we took 57 students from Danby, Vermont for a long ride over the mountain to visit the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Mass.  While there, the group learned about reading pictures in the museum library.  In the gallery we viewed some really great art by Eric Carle. We learned about printmaking and saw woodblock prints in a special exhibit by artist and picture book illustrator Antonio Frasconi.  His prints are beautiful.  Now I'm on a mission to locate his books.  After breaking for lunch in the sunbathed courtyard, students visited the art studio to try their hand at making some prints of their own.  

We'd like to give very special thanks to our teachers and paraprofessionals whose willingness to come in early and leave late made our visit possible.  Thanks to parents who joined us on our trip! Thanks to the Target field trip grant for providing the bus. 

This was a cute make-and-take for any age.  To make the stamp, students glued pre-cut, sticky-back foam pieces onto a cardboard base.  The stamps were inked on homemade ink pads.  These looked super easy to make.  They were nothing more than a thin foam sponge glued onto a Styrofoam tray (looked like a section of a super market meat tray).  Thinned black tempera paint was squeezed out of an old dish detergent bottle onto the ink pads as needed by our instructor.  Each child was given an accordion book to stamp.  Those who finished early were given colored pencils to embellish or write in their books.