“The carrot looks like my brother with a fade on his head!”

Currently sitting in jury duty, and it seems like the perfect opportunity to blog about another canvas bag design process as we gear up for Friday’s Market!

There was so much enthusiasm around printmaking from the Sunflower and Fern groups after learning the processes during our figure drawing study that it seemed like a no brainer to incorporate these skills into our Expedition!  Friends began by observing details of fruits and vegetables under a magnifying screen or with magnifying glasses.  As friends observed the produce, they sketched what they saw onto pieces of styrofoam, creating their own stamps!

Zoe: Whoa, these strawberries are huge!  Look at all the seeds.

Luke: Look at those big things.  The magnifying screen makes the beet look ginormous!

Briana: It makes them look so big!

Elijah: The parsnip looks like the carrots cousin.  One is taller but they smell the same.

Mae: The strawberry is a “V” shape.  Let me check if there’s anything I missed.  I’m looking closely at the leaves.

Nayeli: Do beets have dots or just lines?

William: People are going to flip out… the drawings are so good!

Elijah: The carrot looks like my brother with a fade on his head!

Mae: The pepper has little lumps on it and some little dots.  My stamp looks like a pepper party.

After two weeks of creating styrofoam stamps, it was finally time to print on our canvas bags!  Each child chose which of their stamps they wanted to use, the color of fabric ink that accompanied them and the layout of the bag.  Friends are so excited to shop with their bags at our Market, as well as outside of school with their families!

Trebor: My tomato is on my bag!

Miguel: You have to push hard so it goes on and is bright.

Zeina: I want to make mine a pattern.

Sarah: This is my bag.  I can buy the focus spray and the seed balls and put it in my bag.  It’s gonna be mine and I’m gonna keep it forever and ever.  My own bag!

Reese: This is going to be my perfect bag.

Marquis: The carrots look cool on here.

Ryan: My bag… oh yeah!

Carlos: I’m making my strawberry green so it’s not ready to eat yet.

Mae: This stamped the best because I pushed down hard and it made the brightest red.  It worked!

Nneka: It feels like I’m ironing.

Carlos: I can already see the red pushing out when I roll on my stamp.

Zavier: We’re doing like teamwork to make the bags!

Rayyan: The fabric ink makes a scratchy sound when you roll in it.

Ayub: Ink looks like toothpaste.

Here is a small sampling of bag designs… Enjoy! See you at the Market from 2-3:30 on Friday!

“It looks like bones because the people are white lines!”

To finish up our exploration of the figure and figure representation, the Sunflower and Fern groups learned how to make styrofoam prints!  We began by passing around large sheets of styrofoam and tried to figure out what they were, what they could be used for, and what they felt like.

Nneka: Feels floppy and hard.

Trebor: Softly!

Zoe: Why is it so fragile?

Nayeli: I like how it feels.

Sarah: It feels like a plate.  It’s flat.

Mae: I really thought it was real paper, but it’s not.  It’s foam.  It’s squishy.

William: It feels like it could pop.

Next, I invited a friend to come to the stage and strike a pose.  With the back of a paintbrush, I modeled how to represent the pose onto styrofoam, just as friends have been doing for weeks with figure drawing on paper and on the Gelli plates.  Since the styrofoam was large, we were able to combine all poses from each art group into one image.

Trebor: We’re going on the stage, oh yeah!

Zavier: I want to make one hundred million little people on here.

Adrian: Zoe did such a good job.  It looks just like me!

Luke: I see movements on the styrofoam.

Iris: How do you draw in it? What do you use? Your nails?

Elijah: You know this is just how I stand so I could pose like this for an hour.

Miguel: I see Briana has a little tiny button, even smaller than my button.

Destynee: I see it now!  The sun is on so I can see the people on the styrofoam.

Florentina: It feels really like a fabric sponge.  We capture the movement on it.

This week, children created their edition of prints!  Friends picked a color of block print ink, rolled it out on plexiglass into a smooth layer, rolled it onto their styrofoam and printed it on large paper.  This is the first time we have ever done such large prints in the Studio, and they came out better than I even could have imagined!  Post Spring Break, this work will be on display in the PK hallway 🙂

Andres: Why wont it go into the white part? Is it because we pushed down to draw?

Trebor: It’s on the paper.  Wow!

Nneka: Push down hard to get it on the paper.  I’m so strong.

Maia: Sticky.  Ink is sticky.

Siena: I like how it sounds.

Rayyan: Rolling the ink sounds crunchy like a cookie or wood chips.

Destynee: The ink doesn’t cover the hair.  Why?

Sophie: It looks like bones because the people are white lines.

Elijah: The blue ink looks like my toothpaste.

Cameron: The paper is blue but the people are white.

Abigail: Don’t forget to roll on all the sides.

Zavier: I made all the creative stuff because I’m a creative kid.

Mae: I was right! It printed on the paper!

“Mine looks like a masterpiece. It looks like the Northern Lights!”

Over the past few weeks, friends in the Yellow art groups have been continuing to learn about and experiment with different printmaking processes.  Children spent two weeks working with Gelli plates, which are durable, gelatin printing plates that allow you to create monoprints over and over again.  This is the first year that I have working in the Studio with this material, but am so happy that I was able to take a class on it and introduce it to Pre-K friends!

How does the Gelli plate feel in your hands?

Sylvie: Soft like the ground floor.

Sophie: Like peanut butter and jelly.

Mackenzi: Ooey gooey.

Zoe: Whoa, it feels like jello!

Nneka: Squishy wishy.

Justin: Is it a jellyfish?

Abigail: Don’t squeeze the Gelli plate or it’ll break.

Next, friends began by putting a few small spots of paint on their Gelli plates and then rolled the paint over the plate with a brayer.

The first week that we worked with Gelli plates, children used different types of stencils to make patterns and images to transfer to their paper.

Next, children laid down a sheet of paper and applied pressure with their hands to transfer the paint.

Chrishelle: I remember… what you stamp will be on the paper.

Ryler: You can never make the same thing again.

Sasha: It’s so pretty it’ll make my dad cry!

While friends were learning about this process, Ms.Lewton, the Head of the Art Department, stopped by and children had the opportunity to teach her how to use the Gelli plate.

The following week, friends used finger stamps to create marks and images on their Gelli plate.

Miles: The finger stamps are boinging on the Gelli plate.

Reese: I like how squishy the Gelli plate is.  The paper gets stuck to it because it’s sticky.

Zoe: Mine looks like a masterpiece.  It looks like the Northern Lights!

This week, children signed their finished prints for their portfolios!

“They will think it’s so beautiful and they will just fall down!”

There’s just one day left until our Herbal Market and friends are getting excited to showcase all of their hard work!  Today in the Studio, children finished printing their herb greeting cards that will be sold tomorrow at the Market.

Ezekiel:  Awesome, look at mine… it’s on the card.

Braeden:  I rolled the colors and they look like Barcelona colors.

Ebbisa:  The drawing is going to stay on the paper I think.

Alexia: The roller sounds like the sound when I itch my head.

Jasper: All those people will fall down when they see our artwork.  They will think it’s so beautiful and they will just fall down!

Gabriela:  It’s harder to mix then I thought it would be.  When I roll it I can see my picture much better!  How did you get the amazing idea to do this?

We hope to see you all at the Herbal Market tomorrow, May 6, from 11:30-1:30!

“I love what I did, I love what I did!”

Happy Monday from the Pre-K Art Studio!  It feels like we keep missing Monday art groups because of snow and it was great to be back today to catch up with the Orange groups.  

We learned a new monoprinting technique today and it was a big hit!  We began by painting a thin layer of tempera paint on sheets of aluminum foil.  While the paint was still wet, children used q-tips to scrape away parts of the paint.  Some friends made images of their families and pets, while others practiced writing their name, or just making abstract designs.  Next, children laid paper on top of the wet paint, rolled it flat with a brayer (the most popular tool in the Studio) and peeled it off to reveal their image.

Daniel: I’m pretending that I’m making chocolate milk.  I’m mixing all the colors to make brown.

Phoenix: I don’t know what will happen!

Emely: Do you love mine? It’s my family and a sun and a baby sun.

Miles H.: Go for it, Danny! I can’t wait to see what it looks like.

Jaslene: When you roll it, all the paint will be on the paper.

Logan: Look, it’s sticking.  The paint is sticking to the paper!

Albert: It stuck to the paper.

Daniel: I love what I did, I love what I did!

Asiah: The kitty sticked on the paper.

Noah: I didn’t know that would happen!

Ebbisa: Wow, that is so exciting!

Kofi: We need an audience for this.

 

Printmaking work on display!

Before winter break, children in Thursday art groups were finishing up monoprints and Styrofoam prints in the Studio! Be sure to check out their fantastic work that is now up on display in the hallway.

“It’s real! My drawing’s there!”

It’s been a very busy week in the Pre-K Art Studio as we wrap up work before Winter Break. Today, friends inked their Styrofoam stamps and printed them in an edition. Children were so excited to see their drawings transfer to paper and loved mixing different colors of ink with the brayer.

Michael: I know the drawing will be on the paper. I know I’ll be right!

Leah: Mine looks so handsome.

Cole: It’s real! My drawing’s there!

Abdoulaye: It matches.

Friends noticed that the brayer rolling through ink made different sounds, depending on how fast or slow you rolled it.

Ezekiel: It looks like hair. It sounds like scratching your hair.

Wallace: Sounds like hair is static.

Alberto: It makes a noise like rice. Like dry rice.

“A field of feathers and a sea of chocolate milk!”

Today, Thursday art groups began learning about printmaking!  This week, we focused on mono-printing with plexiglass, tempera paint and brayers.  Children loved smoothing out the paint with the brayer and transferring the image to paper.  Friends worked together on larger mono-prints and enjoyed sharing what they saw with their peers.

We began by exploring some new materials (plexiglass and brayera) and friends made predictions about what they thought they were and could be used for.

Edwin: Brayer looks like goalie post.

Sarah: Like glass.

Abdoulaye: A rectangle.

Emmanuel: I think it’s plastic.

Paris: A mirror.

 Georgi: The plexiglass resists the paint… it wont go through.

Wallace: Maybe we can work together to mix the colors.

Ezekiel: Georgi, can I help you, too?

Georgi: Yes, I’m doing the house.

Ezekiel: Can I make the water and a boat?

Wallace: Yes, let’s do it together!

Ezekiel: Can we make rainbow water?

Edwin: I can’t wait to see it guys!

Wallace: Hey, when you’re done, can you put the paper down and scrub with two rollers?

Georgi: Sure!

Wallace: Wow, I love yours so much.

Ezekiel: How about mine?

Wallace: I love them all, we did them together!

 Michael: Is it a light table screen?  Wait, I can see myself, it’s a reflection.  The paint came off on the paper from the scream.  I mean screen.  It’s so cool and amazing… it looks like a tiger!  I’m going to write N and Y to say New York because that’s how you spell it.

 Cole: All the paints on the paper.  It looks different on the paper.  It changes, see… since you rolled so much!  Look what happened!  This is a field of feathers and a sea of chocolate milk.  Do you know what this one will be?  Let me take a little peak.

 Alberto: It looks like a mirror.  And the roller looks like a steamroller.  It’s rolling on the paint!