Cat Portraits

So the inspiration for this project came from a pillow in the Marie Claire Idees magazine (Sept 2009).

At first I was going to get the kids to cut their own versions from fabric and then mount them on posterboard but I thought it would be more interesting to get the kids to create their own print.

The original was made from lace.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:
- white paper
- tempera paints
- assorted odds and ends for printing, i.e. cardboard, bottle tops
- plasticine or modelling clay (optional)
- scraps of ribbon or printed fabric
- embellishments for collar
- black paper
- black markers or pencil crayons
- glue

PROCEDURE:

Before starting you can talk to the kids about textile patterns, bring in some samples to give them some ideas about print designs.

Take a large piece of white paper and paint your background color.

After the background has dried take your odds and ends and using a different color start creating a print design.

Here I'm using bits of corrugated cardboard, bottle tops, ends of pencils........whatever you have around that would make an interesting design.

If you have some plasticine you can make your own stamps.  Etch in some lines with a toothpick.

I keep some scrap paper nearby as it's usually the 2nd or 3rd print you want.  Use the scrap paper as a blot for your first print.


Let dry.

Turn your printed paper over and draw out your cat design.

Cut it out.

Glue on some eyes made from paper.

Add a nose and whiskers with paint, pencil crayon or marker.

Take some scraps of ribbon and make a collar.  Glue down with tacky glue.

Turn over and glue the ends of the ribbon down.

Add an embellishment to the collar.  Here I am using part of a doily.

Glue onto an oval background.

Then glue this to a black piece of paper as a mount.

You can add a little border with extra ribbon or using markers.

Here is a blue version.

The book print cat was made by creating a page decoupaged with pieces from an old book and using Mod Podge.


See you next week.