The great thing about the printmaking course I attended was the fact my little boy could get involved too. Obviously the equipment involved in lino cut prints is unsuitable for children, but our tutor suggested a great child-friendly alternative – poly block. All you need to do is press on hard with a pencil to create your design.
Beck really enjoyed creating his design (and remembered he needed to write his name backwards!) but of course the fun bit is getting messy with the ink rollers! Once he created his first print there was no stopping him.
The following week we had an amazing brainwave – the polystyrene backing from pizzas could also be used to create the print design on. Hence, the invention of pizza prints!
It was really cool seeing how much he enjoyed the process and it’s unusual to see round shaped prints too. And of course there’s the added bonus that you art material comes with a free pizza! Pizza Tuesday became our weekly tradition so we had a new polystyrene disc for the following week.
The following week we had great weather and were able to have our class outdoors. It was so nice having a couple of hours set aside in the week to be able to focus on creating new designs, chatting with likeminded people, and helping Beck learn some new skills.
It’s testament to what an accessible art form this is that a 5 year old can get involved and pick up the basics quickly. There’s no specialist equipment needed and the immediacy of creating your finished print is really satisfying. Here he is burnishing his print with a wooden spoon just before the big reveal.
Beck went for an African inspired design for his final design of the class and managed to use his favourite colour – orange. After the class finished he’s continued doing printmaking at home with me and gives them to people as gifts. Watch this space in 15 years time when he’s exhibiting at a gallery near you đŸ˜‰
hollybeckdesigns.com 