Relief Printmaking with Linoleum

 In the spring, students learned about the process and techniques associated with relief printing.  To begin, I passed around some different prints and plates that helped to explain just how many different types of printmaking are out there.  We a bit talked about the style and history of wood cut and how linoleum carving came about. 
Next, students practiced carving on scrap pieces of linoleum that were painted black with ink so that they could see the difference between each gauge and the type of mark/cut it made.   Students also drew simple black and white designs on stamps and practiced carving around those. 

 

 I have always liked alphabet books because they come in so many different themes and often have unexpected images.  After looking at the beautiful paper cuts in this alphabet book, Awake to Nap, I became inspired to have the alphabet book be the thing that linked all of the student images together.   Students were then introduced to the concept and were told that their prints would be bound into a book at the end of the year (I'm working on it!)  Every student could carve what they wished as long as it was linked to the letter they randomly selected.


Your fate awaits you... what letter of the alphabet will you select from the basket with your eyes closed?

 After choosing a letter of the alphabet, students brainstormed and sketched several possible ideas for homework.  I tried to stress that the letter was merely a point of inspiration and that they could really make any image fit using a sentence.  A strong composition was a must.

Students spent some time planning out what would be carved and what would remain by using marker or pencil in their sketchbook.  This process helped them visualize how the black and white shapes would fit together.  They then transferred their image onto the linoleum and once again filled in the areas that would remain un-carved with marker.

"C" is for cupcake

"T" is for tea

 

  
I encouraged students to begin carving their final image only when they felt confident with carving.  In the meantime, they continued practicing with the stamps. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the carving process because I was constantly walking around the room making sure that students were not carving towards their fingers!

"U" is for unknown

 

 Students were required to try and make an edition of 3 prints, in black and white, that looked exactly the same.  This meant controlling for so many variables, such as amount of ink, amount of pressure, dryness of ink, borders, smudges, etc.  Students really gained an appreciation for how tough a small edition is to pull off, let alone an edition of 100!  After students completed their edition in black (for the most part),  it was time to become more experimental.  I showed them several techniques such as the rainbow roll and how to cut a stencil/mask certain areas in order to have certain areas of the image be one color, and other areas another.  Each time a student created a print using a "new" type of experimental print, I pinned it to a board around the classroom so that the other students would have a gallery of possibilities to peruse.  Citing Andy Warhol as an example, I challenged them to create prints that really had a different mood from the original or that even subverted the meaning of the original.

 

Some examples of types of experiments are printing on a collages background or colored piece of paper, painting back into an old print using watercolor, using more than one color in a print, masking, rainbow roll, double registration, purposeful mis-registration,  repeating the image many times, using masking tape to block out shapes, collaging back into a print, and more.

  
As far as what to turn in for the project grade, the students were asked to have 3 edition prints that looked almost exactly alike, and 5 experimental prints that exhibited at least 3 different techniques.
Throughout the printing process there were so many prints lingering in and around the classroom.  4 classes were printing all on the same day for at least 6 days in a row.  We sure did go through a lot of paper.

 We had plexiglass for colored inks and plexiglass for black ink only.

 As a final step in learning about the printmaking process and about the world of the artist, students signed their prints according to the traditional way to do so, and they looked through all of their many prints to select their best work.   Many prints were in many boxes, on the drying racks, etc.  It took each person a long time to find ALL of their work.

"F" is for farwell

When I asked the students how they felt about this project on their end of the year survey, many said they enjoyed carving and they liked some of their prints, but that overall they found it frustrating as a process because it was so messy (with 30 artists printing at the same time!) and because they found it very challenging to make prints that look the same.   I think if I do this project again, I will have better systems in place to try and curtail the mess and keep all of those prints organized, as well as maybe requiring less prints for the grade.  Many of the prints are really unique and beautiful, and the concept of altering one image to create different moods and imply many meanings is an important one to explore.