Printmaking!

 This year, I was lucky enough to receive an LEF grant for printmaking supplies. I purchased more Gelli plates (I had 6, needed 6 more to make a half-class set), splurged on foam printing plates and nice printing papers. Worth it.

Springtime = printmaking for 4 out of 6 grade levels! Yes, it was a messy, experimental and really fun time.

I have already posted about printmaking with Gelli plates with younger kids and all its awesomeness here: 1st grade printmaking-it's how we roll

First up: 5th grade, Plant Study
Inspiration: Japanese Wood Cuts of plants and flowers
Integration: Science

Research. We used iPads and fake flowers. Sorry, I did not have the funds to provide real flowers over a few weeks. That would have been ideal. Also, no gardens to observe. That would have been great, too. Fake flowers were great for observing details and the parts of the flower.

Observational drawings, focusing on texture, details and organic shapes. 

Students traced their sketch directly onto the foam, then used ball point pens to incise. The key here is deep lines and good shapes. The more detail, the better.

You can find foam plates at the Dollar Store, just trim the edges. With the grant money, I purchased Scratch Foam Boards and I really liked the clean, sharp lines and shapes. 

Printmaking Station: when the kids finished drawing, they began printing. The goal was 3 strong prints, but they might have printed 7-8 times before they had their 3. 

They discovered the coolness of ghost prints and some loved them more than their original print. 

With the foam prints, we found acrylic paint was best. I gave them the primaries and off they went. (Ignore that purple bottle...ha) I use Sax True Flow acrylic in Chrome Yellow or Yellow Ochre, Phthalo Blue and Bright Red for wonderful color mixing. Beautiful greens, oranges and purples. 

You can't beat these happy faces.

Some students chose to add color pencil for more color intensity. 

Next, 3rd grade: Gyotaku (Japanese Fish Prints)
Inspiration: Gyotaku
Integration: Science

Here's some background info:

"Gyotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo "fish" + taku "stone impression") is the traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. This form of nature printing was used by fishermen to record their catches, but has also become an art form of its own.

Gyotaku is a Japanese method of printmaking that traditionally utilizes fish, sea creatures, or similar subjects as 'printing plates' in its process.

Prints were made using sumi ink and washi paper. It is rumored that samurai would settle fishing competitions using gyotaku prints. This original form of gyotaku, as a recording method for fisherman, is still utilized today, and can be seen hanging in tackle shops in Japan and Okinawa." Wikipedia

After seeing videos of Gyotaku artists, we used (again, fake, sorry) rubber molds of fish to create underwater biomes. Not. Using. Real. Fish. In. A. Landlocked. Area.

I have enough creatures to do half the class. The other half has an alternate project. The next week, they switch. That is basically how I manage printmaking with 24 kids. 

Printing "seaweed" with a variety of leaves and grasses.

Added habitat details in watercolor, the fish eyes are so important! For those up to the challenge, I taught them how to add shadows using complementary colors. 

1st and 2nd grade: Plant Mono prints using Gelli plates
Inspiration: Durer watercolor, "The Large Piece of Turf", various examples of plant prints, Gelli's You-Tube tutorials (the kids LOVE these, plus they are quick)
Integration: Science

The kids loved the experimental quality of mono printing. I had a variety of grasses, weeds, and leaves from around the school. On the rainy day, we used fake leaves. It was fine. 

Again, we used acrylic paint in primary colors, allowing for color mixing and experimenting.

I have a variety of papers for printing. I especially love music sheet paper. My music teacher donated the freebies she gets at conventions. Other great paper: scrapbook, copy paper, rice paper. The thinner, the better for Gellis. 

We focused on creating masks (the white areas that are blocked out), which created interesting shapes and textures. After a ghost print (the second pull of a print, resulting in a very light print) the students printed the actual texture of the plants. They were so excited by this process. There was so much time for exploration and experimentation. 

Besides applying scientific knowledge to their art, which was cool to hear, students happily collaborated by sharing their favorite color formulas, grass and leaf combos and their newly discovered EXPERT printing advice.

At the end of class, the first group shared "printing tips" with the second group. When both groups finished, they each selected their favorite 3 prints as their editions. These 3 were trimmed and mounted for display (I only displayed one per kid, as I couldn't display over 240 prints).

Another option is for the kids to create a "Print Book" with all their favorite prints and Artist Statements/Reflections. So many options!

New topic. I need a manicure.

1st grade printmaking, it's how we roll

Printmaking with first grade: foam printing on top of Gelli Monoprints!

First grade: "Texas Wild Flowers" Styrofoam print on top of Gelli monoprints

I received a grant for 12 Gelli plates, which allowed 1/2 the class to print at time. Focus was on exploration, color theory and textures.

Some cool first grade monoprints

The rest of the class was given an alternative project. Each kid was able to print and do the alternate project. 

Monoprinting in action: after the surface is painted, kids added textures with found objects (bubble wrap, cardboard, cups and lids, popsicle sticks, stencils, rubber bands, yarn, anything that could add interesting textures)

So fun and so easy!

Student papers were kept on the chair behind them to avoid smudges.

First grade was studying Texas wildflowers, so we did an observational drawing of a Texas wildflower onto a foam plate (hello integration!). I had a TON of black ink, so that's what we used. Plus, it would show up on top of the colorful Gelli prints. 

SO COOL! And....this was actually the kid's idea: I had thought about using the Gelli prints as a frame, but they wanted to print on top. Many kids planned where the color would show through--very sophisticated planning! White paper was available for kids who did not want to print on their favorite monoprints. These would look cool with colored pencil added. 

 

Getting our printing groove on with Gelli Plates! Image heavy!

I was able to purchase six Gelli plates this year, and I was super excited to try them. My third graders were learning about organic shapes and texture, so this was the perfect way to play and explore.

Step one:
This video: making-foam-texture-plates-for-gelli. The kids loved it! I did not have to redirect at all.

We created texture plates exploring texture with organic shapes. We used up a ton of donated craft foam on salvaged cardboard. So, basically, free. Lots of glue. Lots.

My concern: only six Gelli plates with 20 kids.
I wanted each kid to have enough time to pull three successful prints.

So...six kids printing per class period.

Hmmm. This was going to take awhile. What to do with the rest of the class?

Answer: textural weavings! Another way to play with texture. All students were happily engaged and successfully finished both projects around the same time frame (about 6 rotations total)

They love it, and it took very little instruction. Keeps them happily engaged while I am working with the small group.

 Time to print! I have six kids at the back table while the rest worked on their weavings.
 I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

The very first print...

YEAH!

I let the kids create their own palettes, using the color wheel,  of course...

End result: the kids LOVED this. They were very successful and engaged, for many weeks.
I loved it because we knocked out two major projects at one time.

After the kids pulled three successful prints, they embellished with metallic markers.
This was a huge hit. The kids really liked how it emphasized their shapes.

 Then they mounted their final three and wired the three together for display.

Love!!!