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46 October2011 SchoolArts
LatinAmericancustomsand colorsplayanimportantroleas econdgradersareintroduced tomulticulturalexperiences
through food, music, dance, art, and
craft. I have found that my collection
of traditional Guatemalan serapes
represent all these aspects. Through
photographs and demonstration, I
show students how women use the
hand-woven, richly colored striped
cloth for clothing, carrying babies, and
wrapping produce bought from open-air markets. As students try on the
serapes and marvel at their versatility,
they can’t help but notice the varying
thickness and repetition of bright, contrasting colors.
Starting with a Background
Following this introduction, students
paint stripes of colored tempera paint
onto 12 x 18" ( 30 x 45 cm) cardstock,
choosing between many bright colors.
A quick demonstration shows
students how to
paint from one side
of the paper to the
other, going off
each edge. Working either horizontally or vertically,
students are free to choose colors and
create patterns. Flat tempera brushes
work best, and by offering various
sizes, stripes can be painted in varying
thicknesses.
Amate Bark Paintings
In the next lesson, students are intro-
duced to examples of beautiful Latin
American amate bark paintings. These
paintings are created on paper made
from dark brown bark pulp peeled
from trees. Students notice the con-
trast created as the brightly painted
designs seem to “pop out” from their
dark backgrounds. Upon further inves-
tigation, we discover that the intricate
designs reveal scenes of nature, includ-
ing climbing vines, flowers, and birds.
Preparing to Print
Using 9 x 12" ( 23 x 30 cm) foam print-
ing sheets and dulled primary pencils,
students create their own amate paint-
ings by drawing on the sheets, and
pressing firmly to create a printing
plate. As they draw, students need to
press hard enough to create a strong
indentation into the foam sheet, but
not too hard, as the pencil can rip
through the material. Once a line is
made on the sheets,
it cannot be erased,
so students must be
inventive to correct
mistakes. (Students
could also draw first
on newsprint, tape
the drawing over the
foam sheet, and trace
over that.) Show stu-
dents a sample of the
finished project to
illustrate the impor-
tance of pressing
hard. The foam sheets
will be covered in
brown ink and printed
on top of the serape
sheets made in the
last lesson. Point out that these tradi-
tional designs tend to be very busy and
crowded, and that every line will bring
forth the bright colors underneath.
Since students are already familiar
with drawing techniques learned in
kindergarten for creating birds, I do a
quick review, showing how curled spi-
ral lines can be added to create fanciful
tails and wings. Another helpful tidbit
to remind students of before printing
is that words and numbers should not
be used, as they will print backwards.
Printing
Using tubes of brown water-based
printing ink, I demonstrate how students should use brayers to roll over
FOLK ART PRINTS
Asstudentstryontheserapes andmarvelattheirversatility, theycan’thelpbutnoticethe varyingthicknessofthestriped esignandtherepetitionof bright,contrastingcolors.
Jan Navah
Continued on page 66.
Continued from page 46.
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their foam sheet designs, covering
them with color. I set up an inking
station, managed by an assistant who
replenishes the ink when needed, then
sends students to me for the actual
printing.
The “magic” that takes place in the
printing process is part of the charm of
this project, but the danger is that you
only have one shot at it. I use a rolling
printing press (with a crank, where the
paper and plate are squeezed together
as they roll through) to print the
amate design onto the serape paintings. Placing a sheet of newsprint over
the back of the plate and rolling evenly
with a clean brayer will obtain similar
results. As each print comes off the
press, I quickly put it on a drying rack,
as students usually have dirty fingers
and can leave fingerprints if they handle it.
I used to do this project using bright
oil pastels on brown paper bags instead
of printing, but I think this updated
version yields much more effective
results and introduces students to the
printing process as well.
Jan Navah is an art teacher at Stephen S.
Wise Temple Elementary School in Los
Angeles, California. Navah5@aol.com
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NATIONAL STANDARD
Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate
ideas, experiences, and stories.
WEB LINKS
www.paacf.org/documents/BarkPaint.
pdf
kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/
you-are-here/guatemala/2009/09/
weaving-and-more.html
