Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Printmaking, continued...

Here are the final products for our wonderful printmaking lessons in Unit 2.

Third Grade:

Fourth Grade:

Fifth Grade:

Thursday, December 3, 2015


Unit 2 bring printmaking to the table for third, fourth and fifth graders.  Printing creates multiples!  Let's see how they did it:

Third Grade
The third graders studied (some of) the art of Gustav Klimt,   We really focused on his use of pattern and space, specifically in his famous painting, The Tree of Life.  The third graders created their own version of The Tree of Life using the collograph printmaking technique.

Fourth Grade
Hokusai, the famous 19th century Japanese artist, was the focus for the fourth graders.  After discussing and comparing a lot of his prints, we found the most inspiration from his most famous print, The Great Wave.  The students created waves, printed them onto colored paper using tints and shades of blue.  Our final act is to add a surfer to finish them up.  Stay tuned!

Fifth Grade
I always love doing this reductive printmaking project with the 5th graders.  We start off by talking about the importance and history of Pop Art, which leads to discussing Andy Warhol and his famous self-portraits.  We learn about how math can help create a portrait and draw our own self-portrait. After transferring it to the printing plate, the students print 2-5 times.  The following day, they cut out their print and carve into their print - two ways to reduce the print.  And, after registering the remainder of their plate, they print again.  Our final step will be to cut out, mount, title and sign our reductive prints.  Stay tuned!