My House Smells Like a Candy Cane : Reduction Printing

Last week I posted about a multi-week printmaking lesson I was starting.

I knew it was going to be challenging but I suppose I didn't quite get the level of challenge this class had the capability of reaching. I am not quite sure that that last sentence actually means what I think it means but I'm going to leave it as is...

I'm teaching myself how to teach this lesson. There are technical challenges for this project that I've been figuring out and problem solving throughout the planning and the execution of the lessons and the challenge of transferring my student's images from paper onto the Styrofoam plates they will be using to print off of is one of the most technical. I've had my brain working overtime to figure out the best process for transferring the images while keeping the integrity of the plates intact. Any indents made to the surface would become white areas on the print and I didn't want my students health to be a factor; on top of that there's the factor of time to consider. This project will take at least three classes to complete.

I want my students to begin the process of creating an image as soon as possible otherwise they'll lose interest. Keeping those things in mind I tested a few image transferring techniques and settled on using peppermint oil to transfer the coloured pencil drawings onto the Styrofoam plates. An extra plus is that with further testing I now know that peppermint oil will transfer oil pastel drawings which offers a solution to the more detail loving student challenges this lesson brings to the table. The nature of this project is not friendly to teeny weeny details big shapes and bold lines work best. providing the intricate artists in the class with oil pastel forces the issue... which means there are more challenges involved....

First colour printing of my demo plate. Next step is to
carve out the ares that will stay yellow and print
the second colour on the plate. 

My living room is minty fresh and the evaporation from rubbing the drawings gently onto the plates has made my hands cold. With that solution in place I'm now considering the other challenges this lesson is providing.

Printmaking in Painting And Drawing

I love the concept of relief printmaking with kids. Over the last few years of teaching at Artspace I've included printmaking in one form or another at least once in each term. I have a few different types of printmaking techniques I've used and one of my favourites is using Styrofoam plates to create a relief print. I have been playing with the idea to add a multi-lesson reductive two or three colour printing lesson to this terms plan. It's a daunting plan, there's a lot to keep in mind: alignment of paper, reverse images, inking, carving and studio management.

I've put off the lesson for a few weeks as I've mulled these things over. While I think I've gotten some aspects figured out; there are others that I'm still feeling unsure about.