Creative Kids | Print Experiments – Erin Ricardo
Local artist Erin Ricardo’s Creative Kids | Print Experiments project presents fun and engaging printmaking techniques, aimed for children 3-11 years old.
In three short video tutorials, Erin teaches how to use basic art materials and items found at home to create stamps and paper collagraphs and to collage and hand-colour artwork details. The tutorials can be watched in a row to create one complete artwork, or individually to learn new techniques. Each activity will likely take children 20-60mins to complete. Adult supervision is recommended as scissors and paint are required, and things may get messy! Feel free to swap out some of the materials if you don’t have them, and experiment with what you already have at home – the more prints you try, the more diverse your finished artworks can be!
Images: Erin Ricardo’s Print Experiments, created by completing all three tutorials – a stamped background, a fish print, then water-coloured and collaged together.
Episode 1: Stamping
This activity shows children how to use found objects in the home to stamp patterns and textures onto paper with paint. This can be used for the background of an artwork.
Materials required: acrylic paint, a sponge, a plastic lid or paint palette, paper PLUS everyday materials for stamping (e.g. plastic containers, lego pieces, bubble wrap, rocks, leaves, seedpods).
Episode 2: Paper Collagraphs
This activity shows children how to use paper and thin cardboard to create a collagraph plate and print. Paper is cut into shapes, layered and glued onto a piece of cardboard to create the design.
Materials required: acrylic paint, a sponge, a plastic lid or paint palette, a paintbrush, thin cardboard, paper, a pencil, scissors, glue stick, PVA glue and dishwashing liquid.
Episode 3: Hand-colouring and Collage
This activity shows children how to add further details to their prints by using watercolour paint. Alternatively, children could hand-colour their prints with coloured pencils. This activity also shows how to cut & glue the collagraph prints made (Episode 2) onto the stamped background (Episode 1).
Materials required: watercolour paints, a jar of water and watercolour paintbrushes (or coloured pencils), paper, scissors, and a gluestick.
Feel free to share your children’s results on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #UmbrellaPrintExperiments – we can’t wait to see what you have come up with!
Commissioned by Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts through Creative Kids, this project receives generous support from the Regional Arts Development Fund. RADF is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the Townsville City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. Creative Kids is Umbrella’s program for children aged 3-11 years old. It encourages children to let their imaginations run wild and to experiment with a range of materials and techniques.
