Printmaking Projects Test 2D, 3D Creativity

Everything from coolly-designed nicknames to landscapes were drying in Anna Jensen’s classroom at Sherman Middle School as her eighth grade students explored the process of printmaking.

“It’s something that the students create entirely by themselves.” Jensen said. “This fits in well with my sculpture unit, because what these students are doing, in essence, is creating a low-relief sculpture.”

Students first drew their design on a small piece of paper and then traced it onto a rubber mat using graphite paper. Once the design was traced, they took a carver and began to sculpt, and when they finished carving the mat, the students chose two paint colors, rolled them onto a small board, applied the mat, and then pressed it firmly onto a piece of cardstock.

And when the mat pulled away, the design stayed.

“Think of it like a rubber stamp,” Jensen said. “They can even take this rubber mat home with them to use on a bag, a shirt or postcards.”

The lesson served as a great interlude to the classes’ pottery projects, which were firing in a kiln in the back of the room. Student Lilah Smith found that unlike drawings, rubber mats didn’t come with erasers.

“Carving the mats takes a really long time, and you have to be really careful,” she said. “If you mess up a line, you can’t put it back on, so you have to focus.”

She also experimented with different color gradients with her design, which was a bold, geometric interpretation of her nickname.

“I had black and gold, and red and blue as colors,” Smith said. “The first one looked a little like Denison colors, but the other ended up with maroon in the middle.”

Other students like Smith will have the opportunity to enjoy this lesson for years to come, since Jensen purchased the tools and paints needed with funds from the Sherman Education Foundation. She will only need to resupply her mats.

“I love to do printmaking,” Jensen said. “It’s a win for all my students.”

“It’s also really fun,” added Lilah.