sun prints on t-shirts

So when it came time to create a printmaking project in the Artistic Nature camp, Sunprints seemed a natural choice.

Awhile back I had tried this idea out in a printmaking workshop and well, learned a couple of things I needed to do differently and was quite excited to finally have an opportunity to put that knowledge to the test.

I also lucked out when visiting my local art stores' inventory sale, as I discovered the Sunprint fabric dye was being cleared out at a rock bottom price.

I guess I was the only one who thought this stuff was pretty cool to use! Lucky me as I headed to the counter with all the stock in my favorite colors.

So I asked each child to create a line drawing of an animal they would be likely to find while hiking in our local forest.

Or maybe something they really enjoyed discovering on our Monday hike.

Once they finished their line drawings and were happy, I put the papers under a piece of acetate and asked them to trace them onto the acetate with India Ink.

Then we put them aside to dry.

Now as fate would have it since I planned an outdoor art camp the first week of summer camps, the forecast for the week was rain.

Except for Monday when we hiked and Wednesday so as I collected t-shirts the parents had brought to camp for the kids to do the printmaking project on, I asked them to cross their fingers for enough sun to do it on Wednesday.

Evidently we all needed to cross our eyes, toes, legs, arms and fingers because while we did not wake up to rain on Wednesday, it also was not a beautiful sunny sky either. So with hopes the overcast sky would burn off as the morning proceeded, we took off for another hike to create some watercolors in the woods.

When we got back the skies were not great, but I told the kids it was now or never as the next two days were forecasting lots of rain. I was pretty upfront with them that I was not really sure what would happen if we didn't have real sunny skies, so it was a bit of a discovery for all of us.

I had placed some sturdy cardboard into each shirt and using masking tape, secured them tightly to the cardboard. The kids painted on the sunprint dye and then while it was wet, (lesson #one I learned from the first time), they placed their India Inked acetate over the top and pressed down.

We then put them out into the sun which was trying to find a break in the clouds and hoped for the best.

I left all the shirts outdoors longer than usual and when I went out to check on them, discovered that asking the parents to just cross their fingers had been enough. In hindsight we didn't need to cross toes, legs, arms or eyes as the project was successful!

HALLELUJAH

When finished, I followed the instructions for setting the dyes, washed their t-shirts that evening at my home, and had them stacked ready to wear when they arrived at camp the next morning.

Some kids put their shirts on immediately and others came sporting their creations to camp the next day.

I am thrilled they were all happy with them and am sure they will enjoy wearing them throughout the summer. I have no doubt they will receive a bounty of compliments on their original t-shirts too, far more than the bounty of sunshine we had during the week of Artistic Nature camp.

Nature Sunprints

Sun prints have always been a huge hit whenever I have done them with children.

The sheer joy kids find in the discovery, the experimentation, and the outcome never ceases to amaze me with this medium.

I knew it would be a perfect project to do in the "Drawing from Nature" camp at Seymour Art Gallery.

The only problem is that in the northwest, sun can be a bit of a crap shoot and although I have done this project years ago in the middle of winter with very little sun, it takes FOREVER for the prints to finish. You really do want the sun to be shining strong so the kids do not get too impatient waiting for the prints to be ready.

Although not great for our water situation, lucky for us this summer has been unusually sunny and dry. So I knew we were in for a perfect day to do sun prints.

I put all the items the kids had collected on Monday's hike into one communal pile.

Knowing the kids would want to do several prints once they started, I cut the sun paper into fourths in order to keep the project cost effective and allow the kids the opportunity to have fun with the medium until their hearts content.

And fun they had!

The process is quite simple.

First, I had the kids create a small composition using the items collected. When they were happy, I gave them a piece of sun paper or in our case, sun fabric.

At this point, I stress how important it is to get their pieces quickly onto the paper as it is quite sensitive to light. Then they carefully took it out to the deck and placed it into the bright sunshine.

Then they waited for about five minutes for the paper to change colors.

Some kids wanted to move things once it was out in the sun, but quickly learned that does not work. Once it is down, it can't be moved. A good lesson in learning to live with decisions and being quite thoughtful in the decisions one makes since there isn't a "do over".

Once the paper turned colors, they took off the items and placed the paper (fabric) into a shallow bowl of water.

Oh the excitement as the paper changed and they saw the final results.

Needless to say, there was a frenzy of activity as they created multiple prints. It was fun to watch them share results among each other and ultimately be inspired by each other throughout the process.

We had butterflies made from shells.

 

And some kids used sticks and shells to create the initials of their names.

Of course everyone tried just some arrangements of different natural items just to see what would happen. How great are these sea pods?!! 

I wasn't the only one who thought they were great either. Several kids couldn't wait to add them to their compositions after seeing the above results.

And how beautiful are these simple prints of a fern leaf?

 

Or these sea pods that look like part of an intergalactic composition?

There was a wide variety of compositions using all the natural elements on hand.

Even those prints that might of been "mistakes" turned out lovely. The feather was not exposed long enough and the shells are the learning example of not moving items once the sun process has begun, although it might be a good example of why you should move items in the middle of the printing process too since the result is quite interesting.

I think it is safe to say that the kids really enjoyed this project. One might even say they loved it. 

I'm sure come next summer on a lovely, sunny day, I'll be introducing this project again. Who could resist a project that brings so much joy to the kids participating? Certainly not me.