Make Christmas Wrapping Paper

This is a fun printmaking project for this time of the year. I drew the little hats on a sheet of Styrofoam making sure that I could feel the actual impressions made by my pencil. I cut the hats out and rolled printing ink onto the surface with a brayer. After I turned them over on my paper to print I used the back of a spoon to rub the Styrofoam making sure the image transferred. Some of the hats I printed twice before re-inking so that I got a lighter shade of red or a "ghost print".

 

 

Supplies:

 

Sheets of Styrofoam or scratch-foam, scissors, pencil, rubber brayer, roll of butcher block paper.

Printing on Tees

It's always fun to be able to wear your art! I wanted to make some prints on tee shirts using scratch foam and acrylic paint. I drew the bicycle directly onto the scratch foam and then cut out the shape. I used a paint brush to mix together Golden fabric painting medium, and two colors of acrylic paint (one color is Martha Stewart's acrylic paint that is specifically for fabric). The Golden medium makes the paint stay put on the fabric and not wash out. I used a brayer to spread the paint onto my scratch foam bike and then pressed it onto the tee. After the image had dried I set the paint by ironing the back for three minutes. I would recommend washing your garment by hand the first time to make sure that it does not run. This is a great project to do with children and it is not necessary to run out and buy a bunch of new tees to try it on. Experiment with what you have on hand. It's a fun way to add life to a garment that you might be a little tired of. You can also print off both sides of the scratch foam printing plate, so your bikes can be heading to the left or to the right.

Cutting shapes with Scratch-Foam

Scratch-Foam, as I have previously posted, is an excellent surface for children (and adults) to use to create a printing plate. Lately, I've had fun cutting the foam into shapes. I simply used a pencil to draw the outline of the fish directly on the foam. After cutting it out I pressed lines onto the fish to add the detail that you see in the picture. I rolled printing ink with a rubber brayer directly onto the surface of the fish. As you can see, the ink does not settle into the lines that I have pressed into the foam and those details remain the color of the paper that you are printing on. I made an accordion folder and decorated with fish prints.

 

I'm starting a newsletter with DIY templates, news from my Etsy shop, and step-by-step photos of some of the techniques for my artwork and illustrations. The newsletter in early June 2018 will include a template for a simple pop-up book to make with children. Sign-ups on the right-hand side of the blog.

"Etching" with Scratch-Foam

Packets of Scratch-Foam can be purchased from art supply stores. It is the same type of material that vegetables are often packed in at the grocery. So if you have something that you can re-use, all the better. I used a pen to draw the image of the house on my sheet of Scratch-Foam, making sure that I pressed hard enough for the pen point to make an actual impression in the foam. With the brayer I rolled water-soluble block printing ink onto my foam plate. I turned the plate over onto a sheet of paper and applied some pressure with the palm of my hand. As you can see the lines that you have pressed into the foam are the color of the paper that you are using. Very different looks can be achieved depending on the combination of the colors of both ink and your paper.