Print and Pattern: Printmaking and Design

You need: newsprint or thin paper · wax crayons with the paper peeled off · a phone or tablet camera · clipboard

1. Hold paper firmly over a textured surface: bark, a leaf, a drain cover, bricks, a manhole lid.
2. Rub with the side of the crayon until the texture appears.
3. Photograph three printed or woven patterns (fabric, packaging, tiles).
4. Label every find: where it was, who made it, and whether it might mean something to someone.

How you'll know: You have at least five labelled patterns, from both nature and people.

Safety: Stay in bounds, away from roads, and ask before rubbing anything on private property or on a memorial.

Go further: Make a 'pattern map' of your school showing where you found each one.

You need: thick card · string, thin card shapes and PVA glue · thin paper or calico · crayons

1. Learn how Tongan makers rub ngatu designs from kupesi, raised pattern boards. Talk about why these designs belong to families and communities.
2. Design your own simple motif (not a customary Tongan design) and build it on card with glued string and card shapes.
3. Let it dry, lay paper or calico over it and rub firmly with crayon.
4. Move the paper and rub again to build a repeat.

How you'll know: Your motif appears clearly when rubbed, and you can explain how this process is similar to and different from ngatu-making.

Go further: Paint over parts of your rubbing to strengthen the design, the way ngatu makers paint over rubbed patterns.

You need: bottle caps, corks, corrugated card, leaves, string glued to card · water-based block-printing ink · brayer and inking slab · paper

1. Roll ink thinly on the slab until it looks like velvet and sounds like velcro.
2. Press each object into the ink, then onto paper. Try light and firm pressure.
3. Print a leaf by inking its vein side, laying paper on top and rubbing.
4. Arrange three objects into a small repeat.

How you'll know: Your test sheet shows at least five different marks, each labelled with its object.

Safety: Water-based inks only; wash hands before eating; check leaves aren't from plants that irritate skin.

Go further: Build a stamp with a surprising texture (bubble wrap, lace, mesh bags) and use it as a background.

You need: printing foam or a clean polystyrene tray · blunt pencil · ink, brayer and slab · paper · a wooden spoon

1. Draw your design on paper the same size as the foam.
2. Place it over the foam and trace firmly to press the lines in. Deepen them with the pencil.
3. Ink the foam evenly, lay paper on top and rub all over with the back of a spoon.
4. Peel back one corner to check, then peel off. Compare the print with your drawing.

How you'll know: Your print shows white lines where you pressed, and you can explain why it is reversed.

Safety: Wash polystyrene trays well; don't use trays that held raw meat unless they have been cleaned in hot soapy water.

Go further: Write your name on a plate so it prints the right way round.

You need: perspex or a gel plate · ink and brayer · cotton buds, card scraps, a pencil · thin paper

1. Roll a thin, even layer of ink on the perspex.
2. Trace monoprint: lay paper on top and draw lightly on the back. Lift.
3. Subtractive monoprint: roll fresh ink, wipe shapes away with cotton buds and card, then print.
4. Take a 'ghost' print: print again without adding ink and see the faded version.

How you'll know: You have one trace and one subtractive monoprint, and you can describe how they differ.

Go further: Place leaves or cut paper shapes on the inked plate as masks before printing.

You need: your motif on a 5 cm square (photocopied or stamped 12 times) · A3 grid paper · glue stick

1. Block repeat: place motifs in a straight grid, all facing the same way (translation).
2. Half-drop: shift every second column down by half a square.
3. Mirror repeat: flip every second motif (reflection).
4. Rotation: turn each motif 90° from the one before.
5. Look for new shapes that appear where motifs meet.

How you'll know: You can name each transformation and say which repeat you'll use and why.

Go further: Make a motif that tessellates with no gaps, like Escher's interlocking designs.

You need: soft-cut lino or thick foam block · lino cutters (V and U gouges) · bench hook · carbon paper or soft pencil

1. Transfer your reversed design onto the block.
2. Shade in pencil everything that will print black. Everything else will be carved away.
3. With the block in the bench hook, carve outlines first, pushing away from your body.
4. Clear large areas with a U-gouge. Leave some texture if you like the marks.
5. Pull a proof, check and carve more if needed.

How you'll know: Your proof shows a clear motif with strong contrast and no accidental ink in cleared areas.

Safety: Always cut away from your body; keep your other hand behind the blade; use the bench hook; cutters stay at the station and are counted back in.

Go further: Carve a second block for a second colour and line them up (registration) using a card corner guide.

You need: your carved block · ink, brayer and slab · good-quality paper cut to size · a registration guide (card corner) · pencil

1. Mark a registration guide so the paper goes down in the same place every time.
2. Ink and print each sheet the same way, re-inking every time.
3. Lay prints to dry. Choose the three to five that look the same.
4. In pencil, write the edition number at the bottom left (e.g. 2/4), the title in the middle and your signature at the right.

How you'll know: Your edition prints match in placement and ink coverage, and each is signed and numbered.

Go further: Make an 'artist's proof' (A/P) in a different colour and explain why artists keep one.