In this Line Prints lesson, second graders used two forms of media, styrofoam printmaking and craypas, to create a beautiful multi-media piece. We are using learning targets in art his year. A learning target is a statement is a "I can" statement telling students what they will be learning during their art lesson. The learning target for this lesson was "I can use a variety of media to create lines." Line is one of the seven elements of art. A wonderful artist, Walter Anderson, had a philosophy that if a person knew how to draw seven basic lines (straight, curved, zig-zag, wavy, spiral, dotted and dash) they could draw anything. To practice creating lines, students were asked to draw the seven lines on a piece of styrofoam. They were encouraged to experiment with repetition a varying the lines.
After they had incised the styrofoam plates, we printed! Students enjoyed using the brayers and ink to ink to prepare the plates and printing them. Once they were dry, the lines of the print were extended to the edge of the page and filled in with craypas. The results were gorgeous!
This lesson was inspired by an image seen on the art educational site Artsonia.
