SchoolArts - May/June 2008

Carving

Ask students to decide whether they want to emphasize the lines or the spaces. If they carve the lines, their design will print in the positive.

If they carve out the spaces, their design will be in the negative.

Using an X-Acto knife or linoleum cutting tools, have students cut out all the parts of the eraser that they don’t want to be part of the design. You don’t have to cut very deeply, just enough to set the design apart from the background. They should carve carefully, keeping their fingers away from the direction of the blade. (The teacher should do the carving for younger students.)

Printing

Have students put on smocks and cover their workspace with newspaper. They should clean up any loose pieces of cut eraser from their work spaces and from their erasers. You don’t want specks of eraser to cause little white spots in the printing.

Test stamp by pressing them onto an inked stamp pad and then onto practice paper. You might want to fix some of the rough edges.

If students are using a paper or cloth you can see through, it might be helpful to place a paper underneath with lines measured and drawn on it as a guide. It is important that the stamping be neatly done and if you wish to build patterns, that the edges of the eraser touch each time you stamp. Students can keep their erasers in the same position each time they print, or turn alternate rows around. Try alternating the columns. Students should turn the eraser each time they print as though they are laying bricks. They can also rotate around a point.

Variations

Print with more than one stamp or more than one color. Students could work together and share their materials. Use different size and shapes of stamps on the same work. Print over old artwork or specially made backgrounds. Try different types of papers, or try printing over a collage. Combine with other stamps around the room.

Judith Blake taught this lesson at the Mont’Kiara International School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. blakesmarestudio@ mac.com

Materials

• one eraser per student

• stamp pads. These can be the indelible ink type from stationery stores, or

• make one with a scrap piece of felt and some tempera paint set in a foam, plastic, or metal plate. Block print inks work very well, also.

• linoleum cutting tools or X-Acto knives

• paper or fabric to print on

• plain white bond paper

• #2 or softer pencils

Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.