GRATEFUL BIRD PRINT

THE TOOLS

MATERIALS:

1. Acrylic Plate from Home Depot (you can also use cardboard or a paper plate)
2. Printmaking Brayer (see kit option in #5.)
3. Waterbased Printmaking ink (you could also use tempera paint)
4. Linoleum Cutters (#1 & #3 are the most typical)
5. Linoleum Cutter Tool (I like this printmaking kit, it comes with everything you need)
6. Fine tip Gold Paint Pen (Optional, I used it for details and writing in the end)
7. Pencil
8. Lino Cut Block (for kids and younger students you could use these Styrofoam plates, I used an EZ Carve rubber block, the Kit in #5 comes with it.)
9. Paper to print on (Any type, any color, I used a creme cardstock I had) NOT PICTURED

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THEME: Lino Cut Printmaking

ART LINGO: Carving, subtraction, negative space, printmaking

APPROX TIME: one hour or more

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: 8+YRS due to the carving tools involved, adult supervision preferred when working with the sharp carving needles.

The leaves have fallen, pumpkin everything is everywhere and plans are being made of what to cook and who to eat it with as we take some time off to be with friends, family and/or loved ones for the annual Thanksgiving meal. If you are in the teacher trade then you know this week is all about rest and regrouping; from our first 8 weeks or so of school, it is one of the longest stretches of teaching we do as there are few days off from the start of school till now. Thanksgiving week for me and my fam is a time of traditions and gratitude and I thought what better way to show that then by making little printmaking gratitude bird cards to place on everyone’s plate this Thanksgiving.

Lino Cut Printmaking is one of my favorite forms of printmaking (there are a few more I love that we will be seeing later on in another project) It’s a super fun way to make your own DIY stamps! It takes the idea of carving out a design and then using a printmaking brayer (a fancy name for a roller) ink up the design and print it on another piece of paper, playing with the idea of negative and positive space, a beautiful piece is made!

You ready to get to it?? COME ON AND SCROLL DOWN WITH ME)

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STEPS

Get your Linoleum cutter ready; most printmaking designs use the #1 & #3 cutter blades, you can find the number of the blade on the underneath typically near the ‘bowl’ shaped end. I like to start with a #1 to carve out any detail and then finish with a #3 for when I need to remove backgrounds or large section. Your blades should cut into the EZ carve like butter, if they are not doing that they may need to be replaced.

Proper holding of the cutter: Put your pointer finger in the ‘bowl’ of the blade and make sure the ball/end of the cutter is resting in your palm (See Photo 2). When you carve you want to be sure that your hands are always behind your cutter/blade. I always like to tell my students, ask yourself with each carve: ‘Are my hands in my way’ This is so important because that blade is similar to a knife and you don’t want it jumping off your block and accidentally running into your hands. A good rule of thumb is to turn your block rather then turning your cutter tool, your block can move back and forth while your cutter tool always faces away from you towards the center of your work space.

Now it is time to CARVE!!! Carving is super fun and easy once you get the hang of it! Think of your carving tool as thou it is skimming the top of water, it should glide just on the surface of the block, skimming off the first layer effortlessly, if it is getting stuck or taking too much off you are carving too deep or at too much of an angle. I like to say that the ‘bowl’ shape on your carving tool sits just on the surface of the block while the carving tip dips just below removing the linoleum/rubber a little at a time. Start small doing little details so you can practice and get the hang of it before moving on to your big sections.

Once you carve your details with your #1 tool switch to your #3 for the background (See photo 3).

A good thought is anywhere that you want to show up as white (or whatever your background paper is) you will want to carve out/remove (Negative Space), anywhere that you want to have the printmaking ink on it you will leave un-carved (Positive Space)

Roll your brayer over your freshly carved design, press lightly, you don’t want to get too much ink in those beautiful crevices you just spent time carving, I like to ‘roll up’: I run my brayer gently over my block and as I get to the end I lift it up off the block rather then it rolling off the edge and getting my work space messy. (See Photo 6)

Step 7:

YOU ARE READY TO PRINT!!!

There are two ways to do this step, you can A) lay a piece of paper over your inked up block and rub the paper gently with the knuckles/fingertips or B) you can turn your block over on a piece of paper (this is the method I used) and gently rub the block with your knuckles/fingertips. The only tip here is to make sure your block doesn’t move around while doing this step regardless of what version you do. I typically hold my block/paper with one hand while I rub with the other (See Photo 7)

Step 8:

Once ready, slowly lift up the block or paper and there you have it, a one of a kind beautiful print! (See Photo 8) You can continue to make as many prints as you want and the most magical thing about printmaking is no two prints are ever the same so they really are unique, rare and all you!!!!

I ended up writing GRATEFUL on the bottom of mine with my favorite GOLD POSCA pen, you could also add any details that didn’t come out as well at this time! I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do!

xx Mrs. K!