Lynwood Printmakers Celebrate their Art with Cookies and Cider

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November 30, 2011

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Twelve weeks of printmaking with Mentor Artist Suzanne Joyal culminated with cookies, cider, and sharing of projects. The second- through fifth- graders in Lynwood’s after-school LEAP program began the residency by learning the fundamentals of printmaking:

Our line search turned into a MONOPRINT. Students inked their plates, then gently placed paper on top, and drew their designs onto the back of the paper.

Colographs are made up of layers of stiff paper cut or torn, and then glued into interesting patterns and shapes. Our choices of ink and paper color made the possibilities endless.

Colograph by Lolo in gold on purple

Colograph by Lolo in blue on orange: the way we apply ink affects the "mood" of the piece.

Colograph (abstract): how can we use found materials to create interesting prints?

Colograph Dove in gold on purple

Colograph Dove in blue on yellow: How do choices of ink and paper affect our prints?

"Ghost" colograph: We built up layers of cut paper to build interesting abstract prints

We stored all of our prints in portfolios with covers representing us: On each finger was written a word representing something special about ourselves: Smart, Funny, Friendly, Pretty, Good Reader! We used colored paper, sheet music, and maps to illustrate our hand, and then painted the backgrounds.

Work was kept in portfolios with collaged covers.

We spent several weeks creating skeletons, both printed and drawn. Many students created stories to accompany their skeleton pictures, so we decided to create a final project working even deeper with stories. Students formed into groups of 2-4, and brainstormed characters and stories on which they could work together.

Storyboard: each person designed a character to print for their co-illustrators

Storyboard: we worked in teams of 2-4 to create one book together: students brainstormed the plot

Storyboard

Close-up draft of drawing to be made into an etching for the book

Etching (on foam) was the method chosen for illustrating our stories. Each child created one or two etchings, and then printed enough copies so that each child would be able to construct their own book. In the end, the illustrations took center stage, and words became optional!