High School Printmaking Unit: Post Six -- Collographs (by Hand)

After a thorough exploration of monoprinting techniques, the students were introduced to the collograph. This is a great printmaking project (even as a stand alone, separate from the printmaking unit) because it uses a lot of recyclables and therefore is kinder to an art teacher's limited budget. I did splurge a little and purchase pre-cut 5" x 7" pieces of chipboard for the students to use at bases for their printing plates. They brought in their own thin cardboard (mostly cereal boxes) to cut out and collage onto the plate. Some students did try using corrugated cardboard, which is more difficult to cut and does produce a distinctly different print quality. Twine was yet another optional material that a few students chose to integrate into their designs (you'll see a sample of this in the next post).

Since the process of spreading out the ink is about the same throughout all of the printmaking methods in the unit, I focused more on the building up of the printing plate. The students were given a prompt of creating a design abstracted from nature. This was perhaps the most challenging aspect of the entire project. Once they had the design drawn out, they transferred the image to the cardboard and then carefully cut it out with an x-acto knife and glued it to the chipboard base. Elmer's glue (not the washable kind) works great and can also be used  to seal in the entire printing surface.

In terms of the printing of the plate and application of the ink, I encouraged students to be a bit more adventurous with color choice and also to consider off-set or layered printing. This would further abstract their imagery and also create greater visual interest.

Initially students were asked to pull their prints using a hand-rubbing approach. The next printing day would allow them to explore the use of a printing press (see the next post).

Here are some of the prints that were made using hand-rubbing with a barren:

High School Printmaking Unit: Post Five -- Monoprints Method Four

The fourth and final method the students explored while making monoprints was the most challenging for them, mainly because it required them to use very little ink at all. In addition the ink, once rolled out over the entire surface of the plexi-glass, had to be left to dry for a few minutes before using it to pull a print.

As the ink dried to a tacky state the students worked out a few sketches of what they would like their images to be. These sketches would then be placed over a second clean sheet of paper which was placed gently over the ink. Using a sharp pencil or a wooden skewer students could trace over their drawn lines. They had to keep their hands from pressing on the paper as they traced, which presented a second challenge. If they allowed their hands to rest on the paper and press down the pressure would transfer the ink to the paper and potentially ruin their imagery.

The process is very similar to using carbon paper in transferring one image to another.

Here are a few of the more successful prints:

High School Printmaking Unit: Post Four -- Monoprints Method Three

Methods one and two were both such smashing successes that I upped the ante with method three. Method three of the monoprint section of the printmaking unit for the high school students required them to use some advance planning in the creation of their prints. Although I'm sure some of them put some thought into their previous prints, for the most part it was all about very spontaneous exploration. And although I fully encouraged continued exploration with the different processes we were using throughout the entire unit, I felt it was time they did some pre-planning. So as a homework assignment (and really I give so few of those when teaching art) the students were asked to make four simple 9 x 12 sketches. These sketches were used to develop their ideas in class.

As part of the third class on monoprinting I introduced using black ink. Up until then the ink choices had only been color because I did not want their prints to get too murky, but for this method black was important. The students spread out the black ink on the plexi-plates and used tools to clear ink away in selected areas. The areas corresponded to their sketched ideas. Then they pulled black and white prints (no color yet). Once those prints had time to dry a little, they added color to them in selective areas to create either representational or abstracted imagery. Some students tried doing this by "eye-balling" where the color should be placed on the plexi so that it would show up in the appropriate area of the print. Others were very methodical and placed the black and white print upside down under the plexi so they could still see it faintly through the back of the paper. This allowed them to use more control and precision when applying the ink for the color areas. And there were also students who layered the color ink over the black ink. So many options became available the more they experimented.

As always, there were so many prints when the class was over. Here is a small selection:

High School Printmaking Unit: Post Three -- Monoprints Method Two

The exploration of monoprint continued with the students as they took some tentative exploratory swipes at the ink. For the second method of making monoprints we kept the pattern and movement theme, but we went bigger (9 x 12 or so). To obtain neater edges I encouraged the students to mask the borders of their printing papers with tape, which could be easily removed once the prints were dry. This was helpful because I was working with various sizes of plexi as the printing plates and some of them were much larger than the papers.

As before the students applied the ink onto pieces of plexi-glass. I began offering more suggestions for how much to use, like comparing the amount of ink to the amount of toothpaste you might squeeze onto your toothbrush. Some students clearly use A LOT of toothpaste. But for most this analogy helped them avoid using too much ink. The ink was spread around with brayers the same as before, but now something new was introduced. Students were asked to manipulate the ink once it was rolled out. They could use stiff brushes (the ones that would normally be tossed in the trash), scraps of matt board, toothpicks, palette knives, q-tips dipped in water, tissues -- pretty much anything they could think to use was fair game.

Again we ended up with hundreds of prints, but here is a small selection:

High School Printmaking Unit: Post Two -- Monoprints Method One

The very first approach to printmaking that I introduced the students to was the monoprint. The monoprint, as it turns out, has many methods, based on how ink is applied and/or manipulated. To start them out slowly, we used very small 2" x 3" plexi-glass plates. The first method we used was just applying ink to the plexi, which allowed students to develop a sensitivity to how much ink was actually needed and how much would be too much (causing smudging, etc.). Although the finished prints are small, they are all very unique and very interesting. Most of the students tried to incorporate some type of pattern or visual movement (the only "how should it look" suggestions that I gave to them).

Here is just a sampling of the prints that were created (there were well over 100 prints pulled):

High School Printmaking Unit: Post One

So, I know I said I was giving up substitute teaching, but turns out I CAN'T not teach. Teaching art is too much a part of who I am. So, when I was offered the position of long-term art sub covering for a maternity leave for the last three months of the school year I had to say yes. Even though it meant a lot more work than anticipated and juggling my existing job as an office manager in the afternoons and evenings, it was a great experience.

Now, I know it is summer vacation and most, if not all, teachers are taking the time to do anything other than think of teaching. Despite that I am going to take the time, now that I have it, to share with everyone a very successful printmaking unit that I developed for the high school students this spring. I hope you enjoy seeing the fruits of their hard work -- I really pushed them beyond their usual limits.

For this first post... just a teaser. This is what the display case looked like outside the art room. I added new prints with each new project so that the case provides a fairly complete overview of the print unit (it is only missing the last few projects). Having them all on display in the corridor and in the art room itself made have an end of unit group critique a whole lot easier, too. The number stickers allowed students to reference the works easily and often anonymously.

Secondary String Prints - Gr. 1

I did this easy printmaking lesson with first graders, but I think even kindergarten students could handle it at this time of the school year.

The materials are simple: chip board or cardboard cut into small squares, thick string, Elmer's glue. printing inks (I used secondary colors), brayers, barrens, and white paper.

A student learning to rub her print using the back of a spoon instead of a barren.

The resulting prints are really one-of-a-kind mono prints because of the process, but if you print only once then you could do a series of collograph prints instead.

A collection of prints and printing plates.

Step 1: Have students write their names on the BACK of their cardboard squares. Then distribute strings. The strings are dipped in glue so they get really gooey. This is definitely a project where the students will get their hands dirty. The dripping strings are loosely arranged on the cardboard with parts of the overlapping. They will look almost like a scribble or doodle. Make sure the strings are pressed flat against the cardboard. Put more glue on top if needed. Let dry completely.

Step 2 (optional): Seal the strings down with a coat of acrylic paint. If you have the students do this it will take another day to dry, so you may choose to do this between sessions.

Step 3: With the glue (and paint) now dry the prepared plates are ready for printing. I usually set up a little printing station with three colors at it. I make sure I squeeze out the ink, but let the students practice rolling the brayers. Before students come up to use the ink have them write their names on white papers. Remind them that clean prints don't have fingerprints so they need to be really careful handling the paper while using the inks. For this particular project the students rotated around the printing station overlapping the three colors and turning their printing plate one turn with each new color to get three prints that overlap each other.

*while groups of three are printing have a small activity available for those waiting at seats.

Step 4: Display or mounting. For this project I had ended up cutting circles out of the prints, and stringing them to make a sort of curtain. They were backed with sticky gold paper which held them on the fishing line. Displayed near a vent in front of a window the individual circles would spin and catch the light.

And another collection of prints and printing plates.

Metallic Hearts: Two Variations, Same Materials - Gr. 4

This particular lesson could easily be done with a younger (third grade) or older (fifth grade) group of students. It uses materials typically available in most art rooms: White model magic (1 oz. per student), cardboard cut to size (3 x 4"), metallic acrylic paint (I used a copper color), sponges, construction paper, and brushes (to apply paint).

Initially my idea was to use the model magic to create unique heart stamps. The stamps will need to dry completely for at least a day.

Use simple items like old automatic pencils that are out of lead to shape the designs.

Close up of one of the model magic hearts.

These would then be used with the metallic paint (although you could probably use printing ink, too) to stamp the hearts onto the construction papers (4" square). Additional pieces of construction paper (5 1/2" square) would be sponge painted with the same metallic paint to create a border for the stamped designs. Alternate the stamped paper color and the sponged paper color. Then arrange the three images on a third piece of construction paper (8 x 18").


But then I was left with these paint covered stampers that were beautiful on their own. So the variation is to paint the stampers and the cardboard they are on with the metallic color to create a sort of sculptural relief image. Mount these onto two pieces of off-set construction paper for a nice display.
And that is how I inadvertently developed two projects in one two-day lesson.

Christian Logo T-shirt Designs Levels 6 - 9

Here is the description from the wall label:

Students discussed the way slogans get stuck in your head and how it is important that they be catchy and maybe even a little bit related to contemporary culture. Then, they came up with their own Christian slogans to tell the world how they feel about their faith or to tell what their faith is about. Once the slogans were refined students needed to design a visual symbol that communicated or related to their slogan as clearly as possible. Designs were kept simple to have bigger impact and to allow for less complex collograph printing onto t-shirts, which the students could wear once completed.

Materials used:

• Cardboard
• Old shoe boxes
• Acrylic gesso
• Black printing ink
• Brayers
• Plexi-glass plates
• Elmer's glue
• Scissors
• X-acto blades
• T-shirts
• Fabric paints
• Letter stencils
• Brushes
• Sponges

And Just a Little More from the Exhibit

By the way, the exhibit was called "Outside the Lines" and it was up from Dec. 8th - 18th. I actually take it down tomorrow.



At the opening reception, which took place on Wednesday of last week, I received my official certification declaring that I have completed the licensing program to be an official professional art teacher!

More from the Exhibit

Here are some more images from the fabulous art show!