Unit 4: Printmaking
I adapted these lesson plans from Working with Paper Unit by Maegen Fitz Patrick. The whole unit is available below.
Lesson 1 and 2:
For the first lesson in this unit, students will make their own paper out of scraps of newsprint. The newsprint will be shred into small pieces by hand, and added to a blender with water. Students also have the freedom to add other elements to their paper at this point, such as color, grass or leaves. Once the paper is mixed into a pulp, it will be pressed onto screens that the students have fashioned from nylon stretched over wooden picture frames or wire hangers. This mixture will be left to dry overnight. Once it is dry, the paper will be removed from the screens and formed into a book. The students can use cardboard to make the books as described in the unit plan below, or can use a darning needle and thread to 'sew' the pages together.
Lesson 1 and 2:
For the first lesson in this unit, students will make their own paper out of scraps of newsprint. The newsprint will be shred into small pieces by hand, and added to a blender with water. Students also have the freedom to add other elements to their paper at this point, such as color, grass or leaves. Once the paper is mixed into a pulp, it will be pressed onto screens that the students have fashioned from nylon stretched over wooden picture frames or wire hangers. This mixture will be left to dry overnight. Once it is dry, the paper will be removed from the screens and formed into a book. The students can use cardboard to make the books as described in the unit plan below, or can use a darning needle and thread to 'sew' the pages together.
Lesson 3:
Students will make a pulp painting using the pulp left over from the paper making lesson above. They are free to add more color to the pulp before putting it into squirt bottles. They will then squirt the coloured pulp onto a canvas or a screen from lesson one that had a piece of cotton material beneath it. The canvas or the material will be left to dry, and the resulting pieces will be displayed on the hallway bulletin board for others to observe.
Students will make a pulp painting using the pulp left over from the paper making lesson above. They are free to add more color to the pulp before putting it into squirt bottles. They will then squirt the coloured pulp onto a canvas or a screen from lesson one that had a piece of cotton material beneath it. The canvas or the material will be left to dry, and the resulting pieces will be displayed on the hallway bulletin board for others to observe.
Full Working with Paper Unit by Maegan Fitz Patrick:
I chose to include the following unit on printmaking as it is perfect for high school students. I have also never tried this type of project and felt that this unit was very detailed in its explanation of both the background and the procedures. I was also intrigued by the exemplars of the collograph part of the unit that I saw by Ria Beckman, and wanted to have access to these at a later date.
All images below are from Ria Beckman's studio examples from the above unit plan. Thanks Ria!