This week, each class learnt how to carve a pattern into either a potato or a piece of lino in order to create a printing block. 

Amber & Turquoise Class

Our reception and year 1 and 2 artists started off by making a collograph block. We used PVA glue to fix short lengths of string onto a piece of mountboard to create a pattern. We’ll use these next week to produce some collograph prints. We then experimented with printmaking using sweet potatoes! We made some scratches in the potatoes with pencils to add some interesting patterns to our prints. Our final designs will be used as front covers for our sketchbooks.

Magenta & Violet Class

The year 3 and 4 artists used lino cutting tools to carve patterns into the sweet potato halves, taking inspiration from the patterns found on leaves. We achieved some lovely clear results using this process, and some of the prints reminded us of fossils! We also made collograph blocks to use next week.

Maroon & Emerald Class

Our year 5 and 6 artists started off by designing an image to carve into a piece of lino. We sketched some possible ideas, taking into account that they needed to be fairly simple. Once we’d decided on our chosen design, we drew it out onto the lino. We were then shown how to use the cutting tools safely, and started to carve our printing blocks. It was quite fiddly and took a bit of getting used to but we all ended up with successful linocut designs! We made a few practise prints ready to move on to producing a series of prints next week.