Radial Symmetry 5th grade relief printmaking

Radial Symmetry Relief Printmaking in 5th grade 

On day one of the lesson, students painted a 12" x 12" piece of multi-media paper with liquid watercolors. I use Blick liquid watercolors and water them down a bit. They were encouraged to make a radial painting. 

On the second day, students carved their image on a foam sheet. I cut squares of foam sheets into 6" squares for each student. I purchased mine after Christmas for 90% off at Michaels! Students divided their sheet into curved sections with one corner being a small half circle to create their radial design. Students could use an ink pen, wood stylus, or dull colored pencil to carve their designs. 

I love gelli plates for printmaking. They create a nice flat surface for the children. I purchased mine with a grant. Don't forget to have them draw an arrow on the corner they want to be in the middle! 

Once they carved their design, the printmaking part went pretty quickly. My students had so much fun with this! 

 

4th grade Gelli printing

 

4th Grade Gelli print flowers 

My fourth graders had so much fun creating these gelli print flowers. Actually their favorite part was making the prints. I'm a multi media artist and I use my gelli plate all the time to create various colored and printed papers for my art. I use acrylic paint and with my first class of fourth graders that is what I used. Clean up was not easy for these kiddos so for my next three fourth grade classes we used tempera paint. The results were fine and my sanity was saved!  

Students could use rice paper, copier paper or pages from an old dictionary that I had torn out for them. 

Each table was designated with a certain color so students had to rotate to the color they wanted. 

On day two, students made their background with blue, white and purple. They could roll the paint with a  brayer or use a paint brush. Most everyone used the brayers and some even splattered paint onto their art. Students also had time to create a couple more prints using greens for the stems and leaves to use for their flower collage

For the next couple of classes, students created their flowers. We used fine tip bottles filled with tempera paint for them to add various lines around their flowers. They loved using them!

This lesson took four, fifty minute class periods. 

Jasper Johns printmaking for kindergarten art

Jasper Johns Printmaking

Kindergarten art lessons can be a challenge. This lesson introduces a lot of techniques perfect for this age. 

On the first day I discussed warm and cool colors. Students then painted their 12" x 18" multi-media paper with tempera paint . We used only the warm colors. The last step was to  scrape various lines in the paint with paint combs.  

Students loved this!

On the second day, students stamped letters all over their paintings. 

I used sponges soaked with black paint to make it easier for stamping.