Nature Prinmaking

This project is called “Nature Printmaking.” The object was to create a relief print of a natural object. First, we drew a scene or object from nature. Next, we transferred this drawing to a printing plate by pressing hard with the butt of a watercolor brush into a Styrofoam plate. Afterwards, we cut 9” x 12” sheets of construction paper. Then, we rolled ink (color complementary to the color of the construction paper) to the right consistency. Next, we rolled this ink across the printing plate until the ink was thick enough. Finally, we placed this printing plate on the construction paper, pressed down hard and evenly, and lifted the plate off. This resulted in a relief print. This process was repeated until a print of equal consistency came out.

An extension activity to this one could be to instruct the students to create another plate that correlated with their first one. This plate could then be rolled in ink (in a color that would stand out against the first color). Then, this plate could be pressed on a print pulled from the first plate. This would create a 2-color print.