Art at Hosmer: Pop Art Prints, Part 2

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Pop Art Prints, Part 2

For the past several weeks, 4th grade artists have been printing their Pop Art inspired plates. On the first day of printing, we learned about the printmaking process and the steps involved.

Students practiced printing to get a feel for how much ink is appropriate and how long to roll it out with the brayer. On their second printmaking class, students were able to choose their own color of ink and paper, and also learned how to print with more than one color.

We set up our tables with a bench hook and brayer to roll out ink. Everyone folded a piece of manila paper so that there was a clean side and a messy side. We rolled out the ink using the brayer, listening for a sticky sound that told us that the ink was evenly spread out and ready.

We placed the plate on top of the messy side of our manila paper and rolled the ink on top of our plate carefully. We moved it to the clean side and pressed a piece of colored paper on top. Using our hands to gently rub, we then flipped the paper and over and pulled it apart from the plate. Ta da!

Students made multiple copies of their plate, which the printmaking process allows us to do. We experimented with different colors and everyone pulled several prints. On the last day, we selected our three best prints and mounted them on a black background. Students kept the other remaining prints and also traded them with friends! We did a gallery walk, so we could see everyone's finished work.

Students also did a self assessment, writing about something they were proud of about their work as well as something that was challenging. Many students were proud of their color choices, the pop culture object they selected, and the way their prints came out, especially the ones using multiple colors. The most challenging part for many students was using the stylus to press into the foam to make their plate and rolling out the right amount of ink when printing.

Below are some examples of our finished Pop Art prints, inspired by Andy Warhol. As you can see, students did an amazing job mounting their own work! More prints will be on display at the 4th and 5th grade winter concert.