Printmaking Unit
1st graders started a unit on scientific illustration in preparation for a printmaking project.
Drawing from this year’s GIS Spring Fundraiser’s themes of growth, greenery, sustainability, and nature, students researched trees, flowers, and leaves using books from the GIS Library. Once each student had found something that interested them, we began our close looking. We drew our chosen plant in detail. Then we zoomed in and drew just one detail of that plant - focusing on texture or a special feature of that plant.
The next activity in our unit involved transforming our work into a printing plate. Each student chose one of their drawings to copy onto a scratch-foam printing board. Students had to reduce some of their complex and detailed sketches down to something graphic that would translate well as a single-tone or two-tone print.
Then, students learned the basic skills of printmaking. How to mix printing ink on a glass plate with a brayer, how to load ink onto their printing plate. how to rub paper over their printing plate to make sure that ink is transferred evening onto their paper, and how to carefully peel back their print (without smearing their work) to review a beautiful finished print.
The students found this process magical!
