Materials:

A5 cartridge paper, block printing ink, pencil, lino piece.

To begin this piece the students looked in books from our library and explored the enormous variety of birds,
looking at their different shapes and sizes. They then drew several in their Visual diaries before choosing the one
they wanted for their monoprint. We discussed that a monoprint is a one off print; therefore we would not have
multiple copies. Monoprints are more direct and spontaneous and the emphasis was on line rather than colour. We
looked at Picasso’s Bird of Peace (below) which was used as inspiration.

To create our prints the block printing ink was rolled onto the piece of lino, this made ensured each child’s print
was the same size. Registration marks were put on a piece of paper placed under the lino to make sure the lino and
the piece of paper being printed on line up. The A5 paper was then placed carefully on top; the students then
carefully drew their bird design on the back of the paper and peeled it back to reveal the print. To complete each
work we framed them using a window mount.

Kate Glenister
Art Specialist
Our Lady Help of Christians, Brunswick East
Suitable for Level 2