Create Your Own Thumbprint Animal

It’s that time of year again! I don’t know about you, but I am so happy to be back in school. I disappeared for awhile this summer in order to do some travelling and in the next few weeks you’ll get to see and read about some of the things I’ve been doing. Hopefully you haven’t forgotten about my little website.

I have decided, however, that I will not be posting every day. It has been a long time since I was able to stick to a daily posting schedule and I don’t want to burn out again. You can expect art posts two or three times a week. If you want more (and why wouldn’t you?), check out any of the great blogs listed in the side bar.

And now, on to the art project: thumbprint animals.
I’m sure many of you have seen this project done elsewhere, but I love it. It’s quick and simple, and each child’s art piece is unique and creative. I like it as a beginning of the year project, especially if you’re studying fingerprints and fingerprinting. In Maryland, fingerprinting is often the first science unit that third graders complete, so hopefully this post is timely.

Supplied Needed:

Ink pads
Markers
Cardstock or watercolor paper cut into two-inch squares
Choose an ink color. This will be the body of your thumbprint animal. Press your thumb into the ink pad and then onto the center of your cardstock square. You should push your thumb straight down and then lift it straight up so your thumbprint doesn’t smear.
Decide what animal you’d like to create. I made a butterfly, a frog, a spider, and a rabbit. You might choose to make a chick, a fly, or an animal from your own imagination. Draw the face and details with a fine-tipped marker.
Sign your name at the bottom of your square. Frame and enjoy!

Return to main page.

Aquatint Printing

I finally went to see the Philip’s Collection exhibit, From Degas to Diebenkorn, this weekend. It was kind of a mish-mash of art from the late 1800s to nearly the present, which was what I had expected. It was an exhibition of artwork that the museum has recently added to their collection. I did overhear some complaints from other museum goers. Some people felt that the name of the exhibit was misleading. They had come expecting more than just the one new Diebenkorn (in addition to those already in the collection) and more paintings by Degas. So take that as my warning to you. You will enjoy the exhibit if you know what to expect before you go.

So, I was at the museum, enjoying the artwork, and I kept seeing this word that I had never come across before: aquatint. I wrote it down so I would remember to look it up and share the information with you.

Aquatinting is a way to create prints. The artist first creates a design or image. Then he applies resin to a copper or zinc sheet. (Resin is that sticky stuff that gets on your hands when you touch certain types of trees, especially pine trees. It's made into many types of things including the stuff used by artists when creating aquatints.) Once the resin is applied, the artist dips the whole thing in acid. Dipping the plate in acid makes it so that it will print darker than white. After this first dip, the plate would print grey all over.

Next, the artist etches, or scratches, his picture onto the zinc or copper plate. These etched areas will print black. He also uses a special material that stops the acid from further darkening any parts that he wants to leave white (or at least light grey).

Finally, he dips the plate in the acid again, using the acid blocking material as areas reach the darkness he wants.

If you remember my post on John James Audubon, you remember a great example of aquatint printing. His book, Birds of America, used aquatint prints as illustrations. The water color was added after the aquatint printing which can only be done in black and white.

Francisco Goya was a master at aquatint. Pomona College Museum of Art in Cleremont, California as an excellent collection of Goya’s etchings. (I have never been to California. I am judging based on their website and other resources.) Go check out some of the images they have posted and read a little about the artist if you are interested. At some point I’ll post about him here.

Return to main page.
________________________________________
Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 9.5/50hours