Tuesday, February 23, 2016

In the Art Room: Printed and Collaged Winter Self Portraits by Second Grade

So I kinda sorta told the kids that if they painted and printed their winter selfies really well, we just might get the magic of snow. Snow seems to elude us in these parts...but not this year. Turns out these cute things really DID bring on the snow which was totes fab...except for the fact that it meant we've been working on these bad boys for a coupla days weeks. But that's all right. I mean, just take a lil look-see at how stinkin' awesome these printed and collaged winter self-portraits are!
I knew I wanted to introduce my second graders to printmaking but how? I remembered that my buddy Laura over at this fab-o blog taught her students how to create adorable winter selfies last year. I thought it'd be fun to add the printmaking element to this lesson and viola! Here you have it!
This lesson was chuck full o' art teacherin' moments: we learned how to use the elements of art to create pattern, we learned how to make both marker and ink prints, we learned how to create a tint of blue and print snowflakes in the background, how to draw selfies and design a pleasing composition. In short, we was busy. 

Lemme break it down for you:

Day #1: Intro to carving a print. We used Scratch-Art Foam Board but styrofoam plates would work in a pinch. I had created hat and mitten templates so that we could move on to the pattern designing and printmaking faster. I have 30 minutes art classes so I have to take the guess work outta some things. After the first class, most of us had this:

Day #2: On the second day, we continued our pattern design with ink pen. I encouraged the kids to go over their lines more than once just to make sure they'd have a successful print. Early finishers colored with marker and we started to pull marker prints. You can see that in the video...if you've never done it, it's magical!
Day #3: We are ready to use brayers and ink to pull prints! I like to use water soluble Speedball ink because it's the jam. I usually lay out a couple of colors and the kids rotated creating two different color prints on colorful copy paper. (This video was created for my third graders but it's the same idea so I thought I'd share!)

Day #4: We learned how to create a tint of blue and painted a piece of construction paper. We also used cut pieces of mat board to dip into white paint and print snowflakes. It was fun to introduce the kids to a coupla printing processes.
 Day #5: Selfie time! The kids had mirrors, this idea sheet and sketch paper. They had to create three thumbnail selfie sketches before moving on to drawing on their final paper. Pink chalk was used to show just how cold it was outside!
 Day #6: Time to start assembling our collage. We had a long chat about composition and balance before going on this adventure. The kids could use their favorite prints, whether that was their marker or ink prints (we'll use the extra prints for another project, stay tuned!). I happened to have a ton of scrap paper from another project so many of the kids used oil pastels to create scarves!
Some of the girls used chalk for their long hair. 
So in love with this self-portrait! I love how vibrant the marker prints are, it made my happy when the kids chose them. 
Several students decided to arrange their composition on a horizontal format. 
 Last thing added was the pompom! For that, have the kids wrap an 18" long piece of yarn many times around a 2" piece of cardboard. Carefully slide it off and double knot tie another string around the middle. Trim the loops of yarn and you have a pompom!

Now...maybe sharing these snowy selfies here will get me one more snow day, eep!

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16 comments:

  1. Love the project. And thanks for your efforts toward another SNOW DAY (or two)!!

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  2. Just watched the video. When you spoke of using an ink pen to draw the lines, what kind of pens did you use?

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    1. Just whatever is floating around. I don't like the fine point ones because they end up poking holes in the foam. Just the junky roller ball pens at the bottom of your purse work great ;)

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    2. I have had success with the huge Kindergarten pencils, without erasers, we use for drawing in the art room. I make sure they are not sharpened to a point. (rounded tips)

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  3. LOVE this project - It's summer here in Australia yet I'm saving this idea for winter...I love the combination of printing, drawing, painting and my kids just love an excuse to make a pom pom. Thanks for such an awesome blog!

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    1. Summer...what's that like?! JK, enjoy the sun while you can. And, yes, any excuse to make a pompom!!

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  4. These are so stinking cute, Cassie! Thanks for sharing the entire process! Your attention to detail in your blog is so helpful.

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    1. Thank you for letting me know!! It takes a bit of time but I love sharing with y'all!

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  5. What a great project in so many ways. Love the little faces with their individually styled hat and mittens!

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  6. OH my gosh Cassie! These are amazing! Love the printed patterns and the sweet faces. Thank you for sharing your step by step instructions. I love the different eye and mouth choices, they are so darn cute. Thanks for always inspiring me!! Have fun in Chicago!

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  7. Anonymous3/21/2016

    Love the marker prints!! Can't wait to give this a try. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. I've been saving styrofoam pieces with the intention of doing print making. Your video was so helpful for teaching me how to go about doing this. Thank you! I love the idea of using 2 color of pens as well as how you did the marker prints before the ink prints! Awesome - thanks so much for sharing your ideas!

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    1. Awesome! You'll love this printmaking method :)

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  9. I havent any word to appreciate this post.....Really i am impressed from this post....the person who create this post it was a great human..thanks for shared this with us.
    Παράθυρα

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