Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I'm really looking forward to learning with you today all about insects through drawing and printmaking.

We're going to do lots of thinking, talking and exploring together in this lesson.

So shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to experiment with different monoprinting techniques to create unique prints.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are: monoprint, texture, roller, ink.

I'm going to say those again and I'd like you to repeat them after me: monoprint, texture, roller, ink.

Good job.

Now let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean by taking a look at their definitions.

A monoprint is the process of making a print using mark-making.

Texture is the feel or appearance of a surface.

A roller is used to spread ink evenly.

And ink is a printing medium.

Pause the video here to make a note of these keywords, and when you're ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson: experimenting with monoprint and creating an insect monoprint.

In the first learning cycle, we are going to have a go at experimenting with monoprint.

How would you describe this artwork? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How would you describe it? Well, this artwork is a monoprint.

A monoprint results in only one single, distinct print, making it a unique work of art.

There are many different processes an artist can use to create monoprints.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Monoprinting means to make.

a print in one colour, a single unique print, multiple prints in different colours? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that monoprinting means to make a single unique print, you are absolutely right.

There are many different ways an artist can create a monoprint.

So starting with this first image here, we have a tray with a little blob of ink and then a roller.

You then roll that ink into the tray.

Can you see how it's covered it? Then we have this drawing of a butterfly, and then it's being transferred.

Monoprinting is the process of making a print using mark-making.

So how is the artist using marks to add details here.

Pause the video and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, the artist is using the end of a brush to create those lines and add those details to the butterfly.

The artist works quickly using tools and mark-making to create that texture and detail, making each print unique.

Removing the ink leaves the line white, while the remaining red ink forms the background.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Monoprinting allows you to create multiple identical copies of the same image.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said it's false, you are absolutely right.

Each monoprint is unique and cannot be exactly replicated.

Sarah Gillespie is a British artist known for her detailed prints.

She specialises in mezzoprint, a printmaking technique that allows her to create soft, delicate, and textured images.

Many of her artworks feature nature and wildlife, with insects being one of her favourite subjects.

We can see an example of a mezzoprint there of this beetle.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Sarah Gillespie observes insects closely and uses mezzoprint to etch details like their body smoothness and wing veins.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that's true, you are absolutely right.

The mezzoprint technique helps her create lifelike and detailed prints that highlight the small, intricate features of the insects.

To create a textured monoprint, you could use cotton buds to create bold lines and textures.

Can you see how those cotton buds could create those textures there in those images? To create a textured monoprint, you could also use your fingertip or a rubber, and that would create a smooth, soft texture or some subtle shading.

You could also use tissue or tissue paper to create soft, textured effects or layered patterns, like you can see in the image there.

Now your choice of tools and techniques determines the effect you wish to achieve in your art.

So looking at those different textures you can see in that image, what kind of textures do you want to create in yours? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Which tool is commonly used to create textures and details in monoprinting? A cotton bud, a ruler or fingertips only? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think.

Press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said cotton bud, you are absolutely right.

Cotton buds are perfect for adding bold lines, details and textures to your monoprints.

You may remember creating a refined drawing of your insect.

Sofia says, "I think I'm going to use the beetle I drew.

I spent ages adding the little lines and dots on its shell.

I think it'll print really well." Alex says, "I found a picture of a butterfly on the internet.

It has such amazing wings.

I want to try drawing it and using that for my monoprint." Sofia and Alex gather the equipment that they need to create a monoprint.

They need a printing tray or flat, waterproof surface.

They need a roller and they need printing ink To create a monoprint, you first of all roll out your ink.

You squeeze out a small amount into your printing tray, and then you use the roller to spread the ink until it's even and makes a light, sticky sound.

You see how from that little bit in that first image, it's now spread out the whole tray.

Alex says, "I'm going to make sure the ink is spread thin and smooth, not too gloopy." So have a go now at rolling ink out evenly.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time.

Make sure you squeeze a little bit into the printing tray and then use your roller to spread it out evenly, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, this is your starting point.

It should look like a smooth, inky rectangle.

Then to remove the ink to make your image, you need to draw a simple shape or pattern.

You can think about the different tools you'd like to use to do that.

So you have a go now at removing the ink to make your image.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to do that.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

How did you get on? Well, this technique reveals lighter areas and it creates contrast in your print.

So if you drew a butterfly like this example here, where you want to be able to see the body, the wings, and then those details that you choose to add.

Make sure they are bold and clear.

Then you need to place the paper onto the inked surface.

Press down firmly and carefully lift it off to reveal your print.

You can see that there, that butterfly has transferred and created your print.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to create your first monoprint, so roll out your ink and prepare your printing plate.

Think about the shapes or lines you want to create.

Use your tool, whether that's your cotton bud, fingertip, tissue paper or rubber, and press the paper gently into the ink.

Then lift to see your print.

And when you're creating your monoprint, think about what happens if you press harder or softer.

How do the lines and marks appear? And remember, there is no right or wrong.

This is your chance to explore, discover and be creative.

No print is going to be the same.

They're all going to be unique, so have fun having a go.

So pause the video here, give yourself enough time to create your first monoprint, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Were you able to roll out your ink okay and create your image using your tool? Well, you should have experimented rolling out your ink and thinking carefully about the shapes or lines that you wanted to create for your insect print.

Hopefully you tried drawing your image into the ink using different tools and maybe noticed how using the different tools changed the way the lines and marks appeared.

And maybe yours looks a bit like this example butterfly here.

And you can think about for next time how you might want to use more lines or circles to create more detail.

Or maybe you want to think about how hard you press down to see if you can get more coverage of ink before you lift it.

So well done having a go at experimenting with your first monoprint.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're going to have a go at insect monoprint.

Now which print do you prefer and why? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner.

And press play when you are ready to continue.

Which one did you prefer? Is it the one on the left or the one on the right? And why? Well, when creating a monoprint, artists often think about: Texture: What tools can you use to create interesting surfaces or patterns? Line: What kind of lines will bring out the detail in your design? Colour: Will you use one colour or layer multiple to make the image stand out? Think about the composition.

Where will the main image sit on the page? And tone: How can you show light and dark areas? Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Artists only think about colour when creating a monoprint, not texture, tone or composition.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said that is false, you are absolutely right.

Artists think about many elements such as composition, texture, tone, line, and colour, to plan and improve their monoprint.

When you are practising your monoprint, you can experiment with adding details, just like Sarah Gillespie.

You can try to vary pressure by pressing lightly for soft lines or pressing harder for darker, bolder marks.

To use different tools: you could try pencils, sticks, or even your fingers to create fine textures.

And you can even experiment.

The more you experiment with pressure and tools, the more ways you will discover to add detail, just like Sarah's insect prints.

How could Sofia improve her design here? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? Maybe you said that she could make the wings even more detailed by adding dots.

Sofia improves her print by including different marks to add tone and texture.

"Each mark I make is my own creative choice, it helps add depth, detail and expression to my artwork." Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

When creating a monoprint, how can you add different types of details, like Sarah Gillespie does in her insect prints? Only use one tool with heavy pressure all the time; vary the pressure and use different tools to create different textures; or avoid experimenting to keep the print looking neat? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think about the answer to this question, and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said to vary the pressure and use different tools to create different textures, you are absolutely right.

Well done.

How has the artist used colour? Pause the video and have a discussion with your partner and press play when you are ready to continue.

How has the artist used colour then? What can you see? Some red and orange and some yellow.

Well, artists can use colour to make their prints look more interesting.

There are different techniques for how this can be done.

You can have a gradient, a smooth colour transition that can create depth and make parts of a print appear more three dimensional.

You can have spot colour, you can add bright colours to small areas and that can make details pop against the rest of the print.

Which technique has been used here? Pause the video and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? That's right.

This is a spot colour.

Can you see how we've added the bright colour to small areas? The yellow there, to make the details pop against the rest of the print.

Now how could this print be improved? Pause the video and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you are ready to continue.

What did you think? Well, adding more ink will create a richer, more vibrant image, and this will help enhance the colours and add clarity to the details, because at the moment, we can't really see that butterfly that well.

So adding more ink will help with those details coming through.

This now brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to create an insect monoprint.

Now, you could use your printing plate and apply ink as before, or you could experiment with adding texture and detail, using different tools such as cotton buds, tissues or tissue paper, a rubber, or your fingertips.

And you could try using different colour techniques of ink or layering to make your insects really stand out.

Think about how you can show parts of your insect clearly, such as the wings, legs, or patterns on the body.

So pause the video here and give yourself enough time to create an insect monoprint, and press play when you are ready to continue.

How did that go? Did you use your printing plate? Did you experiment with any textures or techniques of ink? Well, you should have created your monoprint with texture and detail and maybe you've experimented with those different tools, whether that's cotton buds, tissue or tissue paper, or your fingertips.

And hopefully you tried using some vibrant colours, trying different inks or layering to make your insect stand out.

Maybe you went for the red and the yellow and creating that bit of orange there, a bit like a sunrise.

Hopefully you've got clear features.

You can really see wings and legs and body patterns, to highlight the key parts of your insect, like this butterfly here.

So well done for having a go at creating your own insect monoprint.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about insect printmaking through monoprint.

To create a unique print by applying ink to a surface and drawing into it, you use a roller to spread the ink evenly on a printing surface, and that can help to make an effective print.

You need to press paper onto an inked surface to transfer the design, and then you can experiment with texture by varying mark-making techniques in your monoprints.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.