Friday, December 30, 2011

Reductive printmaking: self-portraits

Fifth graders worked on proportion when drawing their self-portraits - we spent some time figuring out sizes and placements of the parts of the face and printed a simple contour drawing from a styrofoam sheet.  Next, we removed part of the printing plate by cutting and added textures and patterns in the remaining areas and printed with a second color of ink.







6 comments:

  1. These are really nice. We finished reduction printmaking in December, too. I really love yours, though.

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  2. Thank you for the nomination Hope.
    It is nice to be recognized by your peers.

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  3. I'm really looking forward to trying this next year! These look fantastic.
    -Zach
    thomaselementaryart.blogspot.com

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  4. Did the kids make sketches before drawing/carving on the Styrofoam? I am trying a variation on this lesson right now, and I had such a hard time getting the kids to buy into the self-portrait aspect of this lesson. Many of them seem intimidated by drawing self-portraits because they lack the confidence to try. Once we started printing, the kids seem to get more into it. Tips for getting them started on their portraits?

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  5. Yes, definitely. I printed out a sheet with the facial proportion guidelines and then I gave them a blank paper that was the same size as the foam sheets to draw the portrait on first. I also demonstate how to use the guidelines. Once complete, they simply had to trace over the paper with the foam sheet underneath. I ask them to go back over it once more once the paper is removed, just to be certain the lines are deep enough. Hope that helps!

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