Hours of carving, making decisions about positive and negative space and changing the direction of cuts... all leads up this moment...the first print of a lino block. This large linoleum block, 16" x 20" was created by Katy, an independent study student. We decided to capture the slow reveal and all out awesomeness of seeing a print for the first time. I could watch this over and over again. Amazing job Katy!  Now, what colors should she  print?

Drawing & Painting I students are learning about relief printmaking. The idea of carving a linoleum block and getting a print from the surface is really new to many students. Most students have finished carving and just started the printing process. Of course, printing is a whole new adventure. Getting a print that little to no snowy spots, when printing by hand, can be a workout. 

Today we had such a great day in AP Art! I mean... really super great day! We were monoprinting with gelli plates. Ok, the set up was a lot and making the gelli plates did take some time. But (insert whoo hoo here) it was exciting. We flipped the classroom and students prepped for the lesson on their own. They were given an electronic folder of on-line resources and videos to review before starting. Students prepped stencils and color schemes before coming into the classroom. This allowed students to jump right in and start printing. Each student had their own printing station and space to create a multitude of prints. Students were layering acrylics, using stencils, incorporating their figure drawings, cutting original stencils, adding xerox transfer and hand coloring. And tomorrow...we get to do it all again!
 

Drawing & Painting II students are just starting to print. After completing their good black and white print they are on to experimenting. Some students are printing on collage paper, others using text, while some are hand coloring. In the end, each students will hand in three prints: good black and white, print done on a painted surface and a print with text.

DPI students are printing their linoleum blocks! First they must do a test print to see how the carving came out (keep carving if you don't like it). After they do the test print, they must be able to create one good black print that is neat, clean and consistent. Students are quickly realizing how difficult that can be. Once they get that print done they are on to mixing inks, experimenting with different papers, hand coloring and collage prints. This is always my favorite part of the project...watching students experiment and think about color. It is like you can see the gears turning as they mix two colors, then 3 and eventually they just go for it... usually ending in mud. But that's okay because that is part of the process. Next, they are creating an original composition for their final project: a group of 4 or more prints that is unified by a color scheme, pattern or technique. 

Drawing & Painting I is working on their pop art prints. After taking a peek into the life and impact of artist, Andy Warhol, students are using comic inspired images to create relief prints. 

Drawing & Painting II period 1 just handed in their linoleum print projects. Working from observation students created line drawings of various plants and transformed their drawing into a black and white image. Each student created a series of print from a simple black and white print to more experimental prints such as hand coloring, printing on a collage surface to mixing different inks. They also learned how to use a printing press.