Block Printmaking....

Printmaking might be one of my favorite things to teach.  It is magic to watch the kids figure it out. 

This year we looked at the artwork of Joan Miro

 at the same time the students were studying microscopic images of bacteria in science.  

We used both of these images to design an image for their printmaking image.  

They turned out pretty nice. 

You can check out more of them at Artsonia. 

So how do we do it...

1. I introduced the students to the work of Joan Miro and we came to agree that his made up creatures and shapes reminded us of what they were seeing in science class.  They used their prior knowledge and the Miro images to sketch out two ideas.
2. They drew their favorite image onto a 4"x4" square of paper.  They colored the "black" areas black and left the white areas.  We used bone folders to transfer these images to the safety-kut blocks.
3. Students carved away the white areas, leaving the dark areas alone.  
4. When they finished carving, they printed 4 copies of their image onto two papers.  
5. After letting the images dry, the students trimmed, signed and numbered their images.   

have to love my red "hiding the printmaking ink" nails...
it takes me back to the color theme of my jr. high bedroom redo. 

This year I had them practice carve on small extra blocks so that we could use the back side for another project.  Stay tuned for those results!