Printmaking with Scratch-Foam

This afternoon I had the pleasure of hanging out with my niece and nephew and testing out the  Scratch-Foam I got at Opus. These are thin styrofoam plates that you can use for block printing by simply drawing on them with a pencil or pen. Max drew this ladybug. Then we inked up a piece of plexi-glass with speedball ink. He was really excited about using the roller to ink the surface. Then we placed a piece of paper on top, rubbed it well with our hands, and pulled a print. 

In fact, we printed an edition of 10 to share with family and friends. That's the beauty of printmaking. You can make more than one print of your image. Now we don't have to fight over his drawings :)

This is a very kid friendly product. It is simple and easy to work with and easy to clean up the water soluble printing inks. 

Ladybug by Max
Scratch-Foam Plate and Print

Letting the prints dry

Abstract print by Rory with the help of Naomi

Drawing From Life

Tiger Duck Inspiration

Always on the look out for fun things for our niece and nephew, I could not resist these knitted tiger footies. My husband found the duck bill (complete with duck call). Suddenly our nephew was transformed into a Tiger Duck.

Pine Cone Gnome Inspiration

A vintage pine cone gnome spotted in an antique store in Pike Place Market, Seattle, spawned this series of drawings featuring the lion, tin man, and scare crow from the Wizard of Oz. 

Pirate Model

Happy New Year

This past year I have been busy writing and illustrating a picture book for children.  Inspired by illustration classes taught by Lisa Cinar at Emily Carr,  I completed my first draft as part of the Fiction Project and shared my fifth draft as an installation at the Eastside Culture Crawl. This year I'd like to make drawing part of each day, send out my picture book to publishers, and share my doodles on this sketchblog. 

I wish you a Happy, Healthy, Fun and Inspired New Year!