Choosing a printing object for its mark
Art & Design · Key Stage 2 · The School
Any textured surface can print
A relief block is not the only way to print. Anything with a raised or textured surface can leave a mark. A leaf, a piece of bubble wrap, a fork, a sponge — press ink onto any of them and they will print their own pattern. Nothing needs carving at all.
Choosing an object on purpose
A leaf prints its own veins. A fork prints four parallel lines. Bubble wrap prints a grid of circles. The choice of object is really a choice of mark, exactly the way choosing a pencil mark is. Pick the object for the texture you actually want. A messy drawer of odd objects becomes a real toolbox this way.
Repeating an object into a pattern
One print from one object is a single mark. The same object, inked and pressed again and again in a planned grid, becomes a pattern. Turning the object slightly between each print keeps a pattern like this from looking too rigid and mechanical. A little variation makes it feel alive rather than stamped out by a machine.
Paint the back of a real leaf with a thin, even layer of paint, covering the raised veins. Press it firmly onto paper and lift it straight up. A clear print of the veins appears. Wash the leaf, paint it again, and press it in a new spot, turned to a slightly different angle. Repeat this twelve times across the page, in a rough grid, turning the leaf a little each time. One single leaf, printed the same way every time, has produced a varied, natural-looking pattern across the whole sheet.