#styrofoam printmaking

[formicalage]

Tried my hand at some styrofoam printmaking again. Not sure why I feel compelled to use acrylic paint with this process. It dries out much quicker than printmaking ink.

[starprince-art]

altered styrofoam print I did for my art class feat one of the most unnecessarily hard spongebob quotes ever

[pestobismol]

you probably cant tell but these lobters are trans

[beholdorangejuice]

Landscape I made in school with styrofoam

[blenselche]

MS is legit taking my hands and eyes and its so scary -

-there's so many things I still want to paint and carve and print and weave, forget fandom art, and I just can't because I don't have the mobility/eyesight to do so most of the time. I have a woodblock I've been slowly working on but with my hands the way they are I'd probably stick myself with my carving tools... like. Appreciate your sight, guys. I used to make teeny tiny little watercolor landscapes, smaller than a penny! and now I can't because of my tremors :/ it's a real kick in the teeth.

Sorry to be morbid, but I hope this gives someone a little motivation to maybe venture into a medium they normally wouldn't touch. Do silverpoint! Try linocut! Felt painting maybe? A sugar lift etching would be neat! Art is a lot more than digital and graphite on paper, and the more tactile tools are super fun to use.

And your money situation doesn't have to limit you! You know what I did when I was homeless and couldn't afford tools? I'd make jello and let it dry then use it as a plate for printmaking. I still have my gelatin plates somewhere, I'll have to find em... I made ink out of walnuts, I made pens from bird feathers, I'd carve styrofoam when woodblock was too costly. Seriously, have fun with art while you can still see it pls.

You can zoom in on the computer when your eyes go bad, you can up the stabilizer setting when your hands get too wobbly. You can't zoom in on a lithograph or strap weights to your wrist when line weight and mark making is an integral part of the piece.

Just something to chew on.

[sunbackeddog]

I find it really frustrating that in popular printmaking (specifically reduction), single and double reductions are treated as lesser and are appreciated less... Loudly. It's almost as if unless you are producing photorealistic, 10+ reduction works that your art is lesser, and less layered pieces are considered a stepping stone to achieve that more layered look.

In the past it's made me very self conscious about producing prints and the value of my skill as an artist because I simply have no desire to produce at that level. I enjoy simple, bold linework and max like, three colour reductions in my own work.

I'd love to produce more and not necessarily market it, but to have an audience, and it's just shitty to see that such a niche medium has an audience that further reduces it to only uphold the most pristine of all works. To me, when printing gets to that level, it's beautiful, and takes a great amount of skill, but it is almost orphaned from its medium.

I want to see blocks with high points, I want to see shaky lines and prints where the printmaker has dropped the block or overinked or the simplest styrofoam prints. Please make things imperfect again, I am begging you. We're killing the medium with expectations.

[pbandjesse]

I had a really nice day. Full of activities. And now I am real tired. Not shocking at all. But I feel happy.

I didn't sleep amazing. I just had a lot of pressure in my belly and James kept squishing me. I know they don't do it on purpose but when I get up to use the bathroom James rolls onto my side. Not the biggest deal but I feel bad pushing them back to their side of the bed.

But it wasn't the worst sleep. I woke up before 9 and spent a little time scrolling on my phone waking myself up. I would get up and take a shower and felt a lot more like a person.

I felt really round today though. I loved my outfit and I felt really cute. But also just really really round! Which made me feel really exhausted really quickly. So I tried very hard to be easy on myself.

I had some cereal and blended up the rest of our strawberries to make a strawberry milk tea thing. I used a cherry tea instead of green tea and it was fine. Probably would make it sweeter next time.

I saved that for the drive to Jess's. I texted with her about what I should bring. She had asked me to bring some craft stuff. And I decided that bringing some printmaking stuff would be more best thing I could provide that she did g already have. And that ended up being a hit.

I left here around 11 to go over to the grocery store and get cherry soda to bring. The party was specifically cherry themed.

I did go to the craft store first and was really surprised that I couldn't get fleece fabric there? I will continue to look I guess but I was very surprised.

My stop at the grocery store was pretty quick. I found a different eye shadow primer. Got 8 cans of soda. And was off.

I got stuck in a one way behind a few people who were stuck behind someone who blocked the street to go into a restaurant to get take out?? Bizarre choice. We were sitting there for less then 10 minutes but literally you couldn't get out because of the way the street is. Super bizarre.

But I was eventually freed. And had a pretty easy drive to Jess's. There were flurries and it was really pretty. It would turn into rain later. But for my hour drive it was just pretty.

I got to her place a little after 1230. I was very happy to see her.

She made such a beautiful spread for her Galentine's party. The cake was so pretty and everything was so nice. She had a birthday present for me. Which is a beautifully interesting brass chain that I can wear as a necklace or a bracelet. She also got a matching one! I loved it. And was thrilled to receive it.

Soon her coworkers would slowly come through. It was nice to meet new ones and see others again. We had some really excellent conversations about art. Specifically about color field paintings and art that makes people annoyed. And how some art just downs photograph well and you have to experience them. It was really fun talking to a bunch of people who didn't necessarily go to art school, but had taken enough high level art classes that it was really fun to discuss controversial pieces.

The food Jess made was all excellent. And once the last guest arrived we would move to her living room to do crafts!

I showed them all how to use the Styrofoam for printing. And Jess also had pompom making and wreathes and card making. It was fun! I was enjoying the vibes. We would go long times with no talking though because we were all very focused. It was a good afternoon. I didn't have any great ideas so I made a little walk hanging thing out of felt. It was a good time.

I planned on leaving before 4. And that is what I did. Jess packed me a donut to give to James. And I took my extra sodas back home. She filled up my water cup which was greatly appreciated. And everyone there wished me a smooth and safe delivery. Thank you friends. And then I was off!

It was raining when I left. And even though the traffic was not bad at all, it was a pretty horrible drive. The train was misty enough that my cruise control couldn't work. I was just having a terrible time seeing people in my mirrors. People driving with no lights on so they are almost invisible. It was scary! It was not a fun drive home.

But I enjoyed my podcast. And tried to remain positive even though I was having a bad time. I just wanted to not be driving anymore.

I got back home at 515. Amazing honestly. As I pulled up I saw Dante and Brooks were just arriving at our house too! James was letting them in while I was parking.

It was really nice to see them. I was really happy to see James. We showed them the baby room. And gave them some of the leftover favors from our baby shower. It was nice to have them over. And we would get to share a meal together.

The four of us went to Mathews for dinner to show them our favorite pizza. They wanted crab things. So they got crab bruschetta and crab pizza. We would share our Thai pie and fries with them too. James accidently knocked over two drinks and that was a little dramatic but the waitresses helped clean up and get us reset and nothing was ruined. The boys agreed that the Thai pie was incredible and will have to come back for that soon.

We had some lovely conversations though and I was just having fun. I went to use the bathroom at one point and one of the waitresses said she loved my style and then Grace, our favorite waitress, came out and was like omg you are so round! And I was like two weeks left! And I told her our plan to come there for dinner the night before the c section. She thought that was great. I agree.

We had a really nice time all hanging out. But soon it was time to go. Which was for the best, I was getting tired. All of them walked to fast with their long legs and left me behind briefly but they noticed and slowed down.

We got home and the guys came in to get a few things they had left (they came into town to go to the Fulwilers to get records that Tucker was getting rid of) and then they were off.

Me and James sat together in the studio for a little. They were putting away some baseball cards. And I would gather myself to go take a hot bath to makey body aches less.

And it helped. Though the numb spot is still bothering me pretty bad but thankfully is not constant. My bath was very nice. Sweetp pushed the door open and came to attack me and swatted at the water. Silly baby.

Now I am in bed. And James is going to go shower before they come hang out with me. We are going to watch an episode from our show. We watched the end of season 7 last night and it was wild moment after wild moment. And according the Jess the next couple episodes go crazy too. I'm looking forward to it.

Tomorrow I have my class with the autism society. I think we are doing clay. I hope so! I hope it's just a fun day.

I hope you all have a great night. Sleep well everyone. Until next time!

[artroadtrip2023]

4. Antigonish Heritage Museum

20 E Main St, Antigonish, NS B2G 2E9

(902) 863-6160

Heritage Patterns & Printmaking

Friday, August 4 from 1 to 4 pm

Antigonish Heritage Museum

20 E Main St, Antigonish, NS B2G 2E9

Explore heritage through patterns and printmaking. From tartan plaids to intricate Mi’kmaw bead work, cultures around the globe use distinctive patterning in their clothing, homes, and tools. In an ever blending society we find that more often than not we are a blend of many heritages and nationalities. In this work shop we will encourage participants to create one or several designs based on their heritage. We will then transfer that design to a simple printing plate made of paper and craft foam. Participants will further explore patterning by printing their plates and perhaps others to create design patterns representing many different heritages.

https://www.antigonishheritage.org/

Supplies

Examples of a variety of heritage patterns

Dense styrofoam cut into 4x4 inch squares

Pencils

plain paper cut into squares for sketching

Water soluble ink

brayer

ink plate

Paper cut 6x6, 10x10, 6x10

Description

Participants will decide which heritage pattern(s) they would like to use as an inspiration for their printing plate.

Using plain paper folks will work out their design. All designs will be 4x4 inches in format.

Now that the design is complete participants will transfer the design on a piece of styrofoam. Artists will need to press hard enough to make a clean indent but not so hard as to poke through.

Once the styrofoam plate is complete we will move too printing.

Choose a paper that will fit 1, 2 or 4 different prints. Participants can layer heritage patterns in a single square or place them adjacent to each other to reflect how they view their personal culture.

People are encouraged to share plates to create a more diverse artwork.

[amyfelder]

The Murmuration

Last spring, I set a goal to create two paintings this summer. I knew one would be a painting of a cherry blossom tree that my husband had asked for a while back. I had no idea what I would paint for the other one.

At the beginning of the summer, I took a Storytelling and Bookmaking in the Art Studio course. One of our projects was to create an altered book. When shifting through the box of discarded books, I came across Leon Leyson’s The Boy on the Wooden Box. I chose it because it had these wonderful, silhouetted images of birds in flight as chapter headings. I started to glue beautiful white tissue paper embedded with blue thread on the end pages. Careful to leave the birds intact, I collaged around them. Then, I created my own scene of flowers, spirals, and wind. I had no intention of it becoming anything beyond an experiment. Free from the pressure of creating something that would be shared, I simply played.

The next day during a Digital Portfolios course, I was introduced to a printmaking technique which substituted ink with markers. Eager to try it out, I decided to engrave a flock of birds onto my Styrofoam plate. The printmaking process was a total flop, but I left the class knowing I wanted to do something more with the bird imagery.

That is when I decided to paint the birds. Embracing the joy of play, I allowed myself to let go of my quite serious artmaking practice and to veer away from my normal realism. Instead, I created something whimsical—The Murmuration.

While creating The Murmuration, I kept a log of my hours and a record of what I did each day. As I reflected on my time, I categorized the various activities by Studio Habit as defined in Studio Thinking from the Start: The K-8 Art Educator's Handbook by Jillian Hogan, Lois Hetland, Diane B. Jaquith, and Ellen Winner:

Develop Craft (Technique: Learning to use tools, materials, and artists conventions and Studio Practice: Taking care of tools, materials, works, and space)

Engage & Persist (Finding personally meaningful projects and sticking to them)

Envision (Imagining new artworks and steps to bring them to life)

Express (Making works that convey personal meaning and interpreting meaning in the works of others)

Observe (Look closely and noticing)

Reflect (Question & Explain: Talking about students’ work and working processes and Evaluate: Talking about what works well, what does not, and why, in works by self and others)

Stretch & Explore (Playing, trying new things, making mistakes, and learning from them)

Understand Art Worlds (Domain: Learning about what artists make and Communities: Learning to collaborate and understanding that artists often work in groups) (p.4)

As I reflect on the creation of The Murmuration, I am struck by how much playing, failing, and redoing goes into my studio practice. Seeing an artwork through from start to finish not only requires commitment but also a willingness to go on a journey. You have to be okay with not knowing exactly what directions to follow to get to the destination. At times, you are fumbling. At other times, you are right on track.

Log of Hours:

Day 1 (June 21, 2023) – 2 hours

Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Develop Craft: Studio Practice by setting up my home art studio. Organized my workspace, inventoried my art materials and tools, and bought materials I needed. Measured windows for assembling custom screens so that I can open my studio window for ventilation. Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Envision by imagining new artworks and steps to bring them to life. I envisioned a plan to create a final artwork of birds flying for me and a final artwork of cherry blossom trees for my husband's study. Discussed canvas size/dimensions options with my husband.

Day 2 (June 22) – 3.5 hours

Sketched out birds on the canvas with charcoal [Envision]. Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Develop Craft: Technique by practicing with techniques and materials. Painted the background. Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Reflect by documenting my artmaking process. Photographed my home studio and my work in progress for a future blog post. Self-evaluated my artwork.

Day 3 (June 23) – 1.5 hours

Bought a canvas and managed my art budget [Develop Craft: Studio Practice]. Collaborated with my husband about whether the canvas was a good size/dimension for his study. Painted two of the birds [Develop Craft: Technique]. Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Observe by viewing my own work closely to find areas to keep and to improve. Removed some of the black paint from the birds until they were the right shape and size.

Day 4 (June 26) – 2 hours

Continued to paint the birds [Develop Craft: Technique and Observe].

Day 5 (June 27) – 1 hour

Continued to paint the birds [Develop Craft: Technique and Observe].

Day 6 (June 30) – 3 hours

Finished painting the birds and revisited the background [Develop Craft: Technique and Observe].

Day 7 (July 5) – 3.5 hours

Repainted the background and the birds. Decided to make some of the birds gray to appear in the distance while keeping some birds a sharp black in the foreground [Develop Craft: Technique and Observe]. Completed finishing touches and signed my work with my initials.

Day 8 (July 6) - .25 hours

Consulted a bird expert who identified the birds as starlings. Researched starlings and decided they are a good fit. Titled piece The Murmuration. Practiced the Studio Habit of Mind Express by discerning the meaning of the piece. The painting shows only a few starlings to depict the decline in the starling population. This fits with my current body of work about ecology and humanity's complex relationship with nature [Reflect].

Total Time – 16.75 hours

Image credit: The Murmuration, 2023 | Oil on canvas | 24x18 inches

Reference

Hetland, L., Hogan, J., Jaquith, D., & Winner, E. (2018). Studio Thinking from the Start: The K-8 Art Educator’s Handbook. Teachers College Press.

[formicalage]

Brown Chair.

[octopeyeart]

First try at printing the styrofoam! I got kind of frustrated because at first the ink wasn’t flowing well enough so I mixed in a little bit of linseed oil and I think I may have put a bit too much but at least the ink started covering the brayer. The next issue arose when I attempted to test print on a scrap of newsprint I had. I held the paper down and rubbed it with a spoon but somehow it must’ve shifted and the prints came out blurry and doubled. I decided to clean up and call it a night, but I’m gonna try again tomorrow!

[mickmathersartblog]

“Walking the Dog XVII”

engraved styrofoam printing plate by Mick Mather

(click image to view full size)

[grimcartoons]

Live block printing at City Market!#linocut #art #teaching #indianapolis #artist #photooftheday #styrofoam #pictureoftheday #picoftheday #mcm #monday #class #love #printmaking #grimcartoons #printing #handprint #2018 #prints (at Indianapolis City Market)

[lizziedonegan]

http://saridienes.org/work/index.html

Especially like the styrofoam prints

[kidsmartnola]

Hynes UNO Charter School

1st Grade - Social Studies & Visual Art

Ms. Brigid and Ms. Doussan

Ms. Doussan's students just wrapped up a social studies unit on cities, neighborhoods, and landmarks. We went on observational walks to discover landmarks in our own neighborhood in Gentilly, and learned art vocabulary words like "horizon line," "landscape painting," and "printmaking."

This multimedia landscape painting was a project that took many weeks to complete. Students began by drawing a horizon, trees, and plants using colorful oil pastel. They then spent two classes adding water color to their landscapes. Finally, they created styrofoam prints of buildings or other landmarks that they observed in their own neighborhood, or in the neighborhood by Hynes. Using a brayer and some washable ink, students added the landmarks to their landscape paintings.

With help from the students, Ms. Brigid and Ms. Doussan created a gallery wall displaying our paintings outside of the classroom. I am so proud of how hard Ms. Doussan's class worked to complete this project. Each step turned out beautifully and reflects their creativity and perseverance!

[recycledfrockery]

How to Make Free Art Supplies: From Trash to Treasure

In today’s video, I show resourceful ways you can turn trash and recycling into fun, free, found art supplies. Whether you are on a budget, trying to reduce waste, or enjoy a challenge to your imagination, these ideas will jumpstart your practice with everyday ideas available for free to anyone.

I go through these ideas pretty quickly so here is a list that you can refer to if needed (and the approximately time stamp so you can forward there if you want).

Introduction *Ways to use found cardboard and packaging:

*Making a mini-book from box or mailer (2:48)

*Tags and Bookmarks *Die cut paper embellishments (6:48)

*Free, found stencils (8:24)

*Tissue Paper (12:00)

*Paper Wrapper Frame (10:05)

*Mesh Onion Wrapper (9:11)

*Brown Envelope Pocket With Window (11:15)

*Bubble Wrap Mark Making (13:30)

*Printmaking with Styrofoam “Plate” and Mark Making with Corrugated Cardboard and Blister Dispensers (15:35)

Be sure and check out Birgit Koopsen’s Youtube channel for tons of inspiration! https://www.youtube.com/user/birgitko...

And please SUBSCRIBE to my Youtube channel.

I post every Friday!

Happy making, everyone,

Kelly