Collograph Prints: Creating Imaginary Creatures 

I recently worked with a group of Years 4 – 6 children to create imaginary creatures using collograph printing, with some exciting results!

Collograph printing is a simple and cheap method of printing.  Collograph plates can be made using squares of cardboard on which you draw your image and then glue on different materials to recreate that image (use plenty of PVA glue and then leave to dry).

Materials with different textures and patterns create the most interesting prints and are fun and challenging for children to experiment with.  We used materials such as bubble wrap, textured wallpapers, fabrics and string.

Beware though!  Make sure that all materials are of a similar height or certain sections will not print.

We used slightly watered down printing ink which we applied with a brush.  Painted collograph plates are then put face down onto paper and then pressed onto the paper with a clean roller.

Once children had tried printing their image several times, experimenting with different papers, they then painted backgrounds around their printed images.  We were all really excited by the process and with the final images produced.