Simple Printing At Home
In these little lessons, we'll play simple printmaking techniques, using some household items.
For the first lesson, we'll make a printing plate using foam. You can reuse this plate over and over!
You will need:
* foam (styrofoam plate or food packaging, craft foam, or whatever you have that you can make in indentation in!)
* ballpoint pen, or another dull pointed implement
* spray bottle
* rags
* water based markers (crayola kids markers are great for this)
* something to print on (copier paper works great, use whatever you have!)
Prepare your space:
* cover your work area
* place your materials within reach, with room to work in front of you
* determine a place you can lay wet prints to dry while you print more
* keep drinking water nearby
* music? light? whatever makes it your ideal creative workspace, do that!
The work:
* using your ball point pen (or whatever tool you are using), draw on your foam
* note: if you are writing letters or numbers, make them backwards because the print will be reversed
* when you have finished the drawing, fill the whole plate with color using your water based markers
* spritz the paper you are printing on, dab it dry with your rag if it's too wet (you'll experiment and sort out what works best for your prints)
* turn your printing plate onto your damp paper, and press evenly over the whole thing
* lift the plate!
* note: you can do this in reverse, laying the paper over the plate - try both ways and see what you prefer!
* experiment with layering prints, using a variety of colors, blending colors on your plate
* have fun!
For the second lesson, we'll do Monoprints.
You will need:
* cardboard
* foil
* scissors
* acrylic or tempera paint
* foam or bristle paintbrush
* cotton swab or popsicle stick (or try another tool, maybe a paintbrush? a feather?)
* rags
* spray bottle or damp rag
* paper to print on (I used brown packing paper, and it works really well!)
* optional: wood spoon, tape
Prepare your space:
* cover your work area
* place your materials within reach, with room to work in front of you
* determine a place you can lay wet prints to dry while you print more
* keep drinking water nearby
* music? light? whatever makes it your ideal creative workspace, do that!
The work:
* cut a piece of cardboard smaller than the paper you will be printing on. Any shape will work.
* cover the cardboard with aluminum foil. You may want to tape the foil on the back, but not necessary
* cover the whole thing with a thin layer of paint
* make a drawing with the cotton swab, or whatever tool you are using. you are removing paint in this step
* lay the printing plate on your paper (or you may choose to lay the paper over the plate - experiment with doing this step in different ways)
* apply even pressure the the plate/paper to transfer the paint to your paper and pull your print
* you may want to use the wood spoon to apply that pressure
* pull your print!
* experiment with different tools, different amounts of paint, layering your prints
* note: if you are writing text, remember to write backwards as the print is in reverse
* you may want to experiment with making areas of your printing plate - play and have fun!
Have Fun! Be kind to yourself and each other.