halloween reduction prints

I introduced a printmaking project to the elementary class last week. I decided to make it a Halloween theme, knowing the kids were beginning to get amped up about the holiday.

Each child created their own composition on sketch paper, focusing on creating a line drawing.

When they were happy, we taped the sketch on top of a piece of styrofoam then had them trace the drawing with a dull pencil. This created an indented line drawing on the foam. To make sure the ink would not settle in the lines when we started pulling prints, I asked them to trace over the indents one more time.

Then I explained that we would be creating reduction prints.

This process is hard to grasp at first, but as we began creating our prints the kids caught on quite quickly. I asked them to pick out three colors of ink for their picture, explaining that we would need to start with the lightest color and work our way up to the darkest color.

This print was pulled with him coloring out the "hole" in the pumpkin for a yellow glow with pencil. The other two prints were pulled after he cut out the area he wanted yellow. In the end, this was his second favorite print.

8 year old, first choice

Two of the children had put moons in the composition and the other child had created a Jack-o-Latern, so all agreed yellow was a good first choice for color.

Using the plate, each child pulled three yellow prints.

Then either using the dull pencil to color out what they wanted to stay yellow or cutting out with scissors the areas they wanted to remain yellow, we pulled a second group of prints on the same paper using silver.

At first I was going to have each child just color out their moons or the glow of the Jack-o-Latern, but the kids found it much easier to actually have a "hole" in these areas to match up the register when they pulled the next group of prints.

9 year old. first choice

To take a little pressure off getting it right the first time, I had each child pick their least favorite first pull to start with when using the silver. This way if it didn't go according to plan, they had another shot before they got to their very favorite pull.

But as this project continued, the kids quickly learned that what was once their least favorite pull....or their favorite pull....changed with each new color we added.

Once we had printed the silver over the yellow, the kids cut out their main subject matter to add another color.

Bats and the witch's hat were inked in black and printed and the pumpkin in orange.  Again the kids started with their least favorite print for practice working up to their favorite print.

And again when they finished, each child found they were enamored with prints they might not of been happy with prior.

8 year old. first choice

Finally two children wanted to add a fourth color and so cut (or reduced, I kept using the word reduce or reduction over and over to make sure they understood the concept of why we call these reduction prints) out the final shapes they wanted to add color too.

The black shadow on the pumpkin and the purple patches on the witch's hat.

They kids each had three prints to take home at the end of the project. I'm sure they will enjoy decorating their homes with them during the Halloween holiday.

They are all spooktacular!

(sorry. I couldn't resist.)

Self Portrait Reduction Prints

On the last day of the Printmaking Workshop at the studio, I decided to work with the kids on creating a self portrait and then introducing reduction printmaking.

Each girl ended up with three complete prints at the end.

We spent quite awhile going over the basic rules of creating a face and they each worked on a portrait of themselves while looking in a mirror.

What shape is your head?

How much of your eyelid shows?

Do you see a lot of your nostrils? What shape is the tip of your nose?

Are your lips full or skinny?

Is your hair straight or curly? Where is your part?

On and on it went until they were happy with their work.

6 year old

Then they took their sketch and taped it on top of an 8.5X11 piece of styrofoam and traced just their OUTSIDE lines with a dull pencil, just hard enough to make an indentation.

I asked them to not un-tape the sketch from the styrofoam until they double/tripled check they had traced all their lines.

Once they knew they had all their lines, they took off the sketch paper and went over the indentation lines with the dull pencil one more time. This time with me stressing not to push down so hard they went through the styrofoam.

7 year old

Love that she added pierced ears because she wishes she had them!

Once everyone was to this point in the project, we sat down and discussed color. I explained they would be adding three colors to their prints, starting from a light color to a dark color plus one "in between" color. We talked about colors being put into two groups, cool and warm, and I asked them to tell me where they thought their favorite colors fell into these groups. I then told them about how color is used by artist to create emotion and I asked them to tell me what emotions their favorite colors might represent. Finally, I asked them to choose either the cool or warm color group to work from and then three colors from that group.

They chose to be "cool" chicks.

8 year old

Then we started the printmaking process.

First they made three prints with just the turquoise of only the outside lines of their sketch. These lines printed white.

7 year old

She was quite unhappy with the line she added at the base of her neck and wanted to "erase" it. She was quite frustrated that she couldn't until my 17 year old daughter, who helps me, suggested making the line into a necklace. She went from hating to loving that line at breakneck speed.

Once they had three turquoise prints, I asked them to wash off the plate and cut around the outside of their head. We cut around the head of their sketch first, just so I could make sure they understood the directions and to make it easier to place it properly over the styrofoam once it was also cut out.

Then they once again traced everything else from their sketch onto the styrofoam and then going over the indent lines with a dull pencil.

The girls then took their least favorite turquoise print and printed the green face on it. 

I always have them start with their least favorite and work up to their favorite, so the learning curve is complete by the time they get to that favorite print to avoid disappointment.

What I usually find is that the favorite print changes with each subsequent reduction.

5 year old

When each girl had three green faces printed, they once again washed off the plate and cut out one part of the face to be printed in purple.

Then they started the whole process over a third time, picking their least favorite of the prints to their favorite to print with purple.

I find even the youngest are able to get the hang of getting the subsequent prints on-register, but always tell them how much I like the energy of off-register prints too.

11 year old

She decided to do one print with the hair highlighted in purple and another highlighting the face

This project demands a lot of concentration of the kids part and a lot of work for me and my daughter, but it is well worth it.  I find that although there are a lot of steps and in-depth concentration needed, the kids completely engage in the project and hate to see it end.

They were working right up until their parents (or grandparents) arrived to pick them up.

It was a nice project to end the workshop with and I was so impressed with each girls' talent throughout the two days. I loved working with all of them.

There are three spaces left in the last of the Summer Workshop Series for Children on July 28th. This is a one day workshop from 2-4pm and the kids will be working on "giant" canvases. 

This is how one 7 year old described them in studio this week while participating in the "Drawing from Nature" camp

If you would like your child to participate in the workshop, please contact me through KudzuStudio.com.

Reduction Prints

I did this project once before during a Self Portrait camp at North Vancouver Community Arts Council.  When they asked me to run a printmaking workshop for children this past Sunday, I decided to repeat this process because the students during the summer enjoyed it so much.

I brought a large handful of animal reference for the kids to use for their portraits and told them I'd like them to focus on the face only vs. the entire animal.

We spent a long time discussing composition within the confines of the styrofoam they would be using to imprint on and using line to create interesting textures for detail.  I worked side by side with a few of the students who were feeling overwhelmed with how to interpret the animal they choose into a drawing.   By helping them identify the shapes first and get them on the paper and then start paying attention to the placement of things like eyes and ears- basically simplifying the process into attainable steps- they were all quite excited with their drawings.

We started by first just outlining the animals onto the styrofoam and making three prints in the same color.

8 year old

When they had three prints, they washed off their plates and then cut around the outside line of their animals.  At this point, they drew all the textured details into the animal. 

When finished, I asked them to choose a new color a bit darker than the first and starting with their LEAST favorite print to add the newly inked plate on top.  They did their favorite pull LAST on the second inking.

9 year old

After washing their plates a second time, I asked them to decide on what part of the animal they would like to highlight and cut that out.  Now they needed to pick another ink color, darker than the last two, and print again starting with their least favorite and their favorite print last.

I think a lot of them were surprised that their favorite print changed during this process.  But by having them start with their least favorite, it takes a lot of pressure off of them about "making a mistake".

In the end, I think they were all quite happy with their artwork and yet again, this proved to be not only a fun project but a project where each child walked away with great results.

I'd hang each and every one in my house!

9 year old

11 year old

8 year old

Warhol inspired printed self portraits

I love introducing children to Warhol, discussing what pop culture use to be in comparison to what it is today and being hit over the head with how out of touch and OLD you really are when they look back at you like you grew another head.

yes. I love that.

But I do love how well kids respond to Andy Warhol's work and it is a great source of inspiration when introducing printmaking.  In the past I have done straight relief prints with the kids but I decided to try something new this time and I think the kids really got sick of me saying how much I loved everything by the end of the project,  but I could not be happier with how this project turned out for each and every kid.

I was worried.  It was far more complicated than what I have done in the past and I wasn't completely confident the younger students would be able to handle it, but things went off without a hitch and each and every child was able rise to the challenge.

We did reduction printing.  And instead of explaining the entire project at once, I did one step at a time and did not share the next step until we were ready to embark on it.  I think this went a long way in keeping the kids from finding it overwhelming.

First the students did a line drawing of themselves on their "working paper".  I traced the size of the styrofoam square on the paper so they didn't do their drawing too large.  Once they were happy with their drawing, I taped the styrofoam to the table and then just the top part of their "working paper" so they were able to lift it up and see if they had all their lines without having to worry about getting it back into the right place.  They then traced over the lines as instructed with a blunt pencil.  We then lifted the paper off the foam and I had them go over the indented lines one more time to make sure they were deep.

For the first print, I only had them to their outside lines.  The hair line and the outside face and neck lines.  I then let them pick between pink or orange ink and had each child pull three prints in the color of their choice.

I then had them put them in order from their most favorite to their least favorite.

Once every student had three prints.  We started the next step which started with them cutting their heads out of the styrofoam.  They then could cut their "working paper" heads out of the paper also to place over the foam.  Some did them and others decided to just wing it and not rely so heavily on their working sketch.  At this point, I had them add in the facial features and hair with the blunt pencil, either by tracing over with their working paper or just looking at it and putting the features in freehand.  They then went back to the ink station and put turquoise ink on their styrofoam plates.

Here's the tricky part, getting it on register.  When we looked at Warhol's work, I emphasized how he put things off register.  How that added an energy to the work and how "boring" it might look if it had been perfectly registered.  I did this knowing that their work would probably not be perfectly on register and I wanted them to embrace that aspect rather than think of it as a mistake.

I also had them start with their least favorite first pull so there wouldn't be so much pressure to "get it right".  They had two practice go's to get confident with the process before placing the second pull on the final paper.

But to be truthful, they didn't really have any problems from the start, even the six year olds.  Having cut the head out of the styrofoam made it quite easy for them to place it darn near perfect on register.

When they did the second step on all three pulls, I then told them I wanted them to pick one part of their drawing to highlight with a third color.  Most chose their hair, but some picked a necklace or the flower on their headband.  They then went back to the ink station and used a royal blue for their final color.

I think the results are fantastic and would encourage anyone to try this project with children.

6 year old

10 year old

6 year old

7 year old

7 year old

6 year old

8 year old

6 year old

8 year old

6 year old

10 year old