Friday, October 14, 2016

Printmaking Emojis

Hi guys!

It's has been a while since I posted (since I went on maternity leave almost a year ago!) So it's about time for a new post.
 
We've had this entire week off from school due to the devastation from Hurricane Matthew, so during one of the workdays I decided to change my next 5th grade lesson to something more lighthearted for the kids. We are going to be creating prints of Emojis! I don't know about your kids, but mine are obsessed with emojis. This project is simple and fun, and you can bring in lots of artists as reference, but I think Andy Warhol is my go-to for printmaking like this.

Ok, here we go!

Step 1- I am using styrofoam plates for this project as my stamp. They are affordable and easy to find. I think a pack of 150 is like $8? The students will cut the plates into a 4x4 square.

Step 2- I'm going to have them trace a cup to create the circle.

Step 3- Draw your emoji. Make it up or copy one (bring in that Andy Warhol pop culture info!) and have images some for reference.

Step 4- make your lines thicker and color everything that you want to be black with a sharpie.


Step 5-  Trace around everything with a pencil...not too sharp!

Step 6- Then "color" everything that you want to be "white" (the background paper) with a pencil or colored pencil. Make sure you press hard enough to indent, but not so hard that you punch a hole in it.

Step 7- Ink your stamp using a brayer. I also had to add a little bit of water to my ink.

Step 8- Try it out on an extra piece of paper.


Step 9- If there are any places that got ink where you didn't want it, go ahead and "color" those areas again.

Step 10- Get your painted background paper ready. (I plan on having the kids do this before creating their emoji so it can dry.)

Step 11- Print your stamp, and remember it won't be perfect! Pressing along the black raised areas helps.

Step 12- Admire your work!


I hope you guys found this informational! Share pictures if you do this project in your own room!