Letterpress Poetry
4th Grade Art Project
West Mercer Elementary Art Enrichment Program
Today’s Project
• Letterpress Haiku
Basho- Haiku Poet
An old silent pond….
A frog jumps into the
pond,
splash! Silence again.
Basho
Step 1 – Nature Haiku
• Big idea in few words
• Topics for today- nature
– Animals
• For example- Pollinating
insect
• Purring cat
– Plants
• Dandelion seeds
• Giant oak tree
– Places
• Rippling water
• Snow covered …
Step 2 – The point of haiku
•
•
•
•
Simple
Quiet
Specific small moment
Related to nature
Structure of the poem
• 5-7-5 syllables
• On your paper, make a
list of 5 things you could
write about
– Be specific- crocus vs.
flower, elm vs. tree,
drizzle or raindrop vs.
rain
Step 3 – Start with a small moment
• The general idea
– Autumn leaves fall quietly
• Gather words for your main ideas
– Make a chart like this on your paper
– Pick one of your ideas and collect words
– You may use a thesaurus
What does it look
like?
What does it do?
How does it do it?
Autumn leaves
Fall
quietly
Crimson
Paper thin
Variegated
Vibrant
Scalloped
tinged
Tumble
Float
swirl
Alone
In a gust of wind
Flurry
slowly
Step 4 – Work with the words & syllables
Work on the idea, then work on getting the right words
1. Autumn leaves fall quietly
2. Bright red leaves / pulled by an autumnal wind /
float to the ground
3. A crimson tinged leaf / plucked by an autumnal
gust, / tumbles to the ground.
What does it look
like?
What does it do?
How does it do it?
Autumn leaves
Fall
quietly
Crimson
Paper thin
Variegated
Vibrant
Scalloped
tinged
Tumble
Float
swirl
Alone
In a gust of wind
Flurry
slowly
Step 5 - Images
• What kind of images can
you put on the background
of your haiku letterpress
poster?
– Patterns
– Object to represent plant/a
• Write your name on the
back of your Bristol paper– Lightly
– Bottom edge
– you don’t want the
impression of the writing to
show through on the front
• Stencil options:
Step 6 – Stenciling
• Stencil options
– Small designs, like these
leaves, can be used more
than once on a single page
or it can be centered
– All over stencils
• Use blue tape on top side
of the stencil to hold it in
place
– Lift it up and place your
paper carefully so it is
centered
Stencil and Ink signups
• Make a chart for inking
so that when one
student is done at a
station, they can get the
next person
• For example:
– leaves + red/yellow ink
– leaves + brown/green
ink
– Paisley + purple/teal
• Put your name on the
back of the Bristol
paper now, before you
ink it!
• Block printing ink
– Use at least 2 shades/tints (blue
+ white or light green + dark
green)
– Here is dark yellow + orange +
red mixed together a little bityou want it to be mottled
– No dark colors or the letterpress
inks won’t show on it
Step 7 – Ink
Step 8 – Use a brayer
• Roll the brayer in the inkin doing this you can mix
a bit of the shades
together- do not mix it so
much that it becomes all
the same color
• Dab the brayer in the
different shades to add
more highlights if needed
• Roll the brayer over the
stencil
Step 10 – Printing without re-inking
• This shows three
impressions from only
one inking
– Top = 1st printing
– Middle = 2nd printing
– Bottom = 3rd printing
• You can do this on
purpose to get a more
subtle printed pattern
Step 11 – Things
to consider
• Hold plastic stencils down
with blue tape
• If the stencil is bigger
than the paper, consider
how you want to center it
• If using a wooden stencil,
put the paper on the
stencil, not the other way
around. You can use a
baren (wooden spoon) to
help it make an even
printing
Step 12- Drying
• Put printed paper on
drying rack
• After cleanup, can put
stencils and ink acrylic
sheets on rack to dry
also
Step 1 – Letterpress
• Letterpress is how things were printed before printing
became digital- it was labor intensive and time
consuming, which made the printed word valuable and
respected.
• Steps to printing
– Write the text by hand
– Set the type (letter by letter)
– Format the page (fill in the gaps and tighten it up so it
won’t move around
– Ink the text
– Paper and packing (extra paper so there is some ‘give’
when pressure is applied)
– Load the galley into the press
– Crank the press
– Unload, and then…
Letterpress Basics
West Mercer Elementary Art Enrichment Program 2016
Letterpress
• Hydraulic press
with release
Setting the type
• Letters are reversed- b
and d, p and q, even a
and g can be
confusing
• If you set it wrong,
you will know when
you do your first
printing- fix it and
print again
• Type is set into a
galley or tray
Furniture
• Furniture is the term
used for all the pieces
of wood that act as
spacers on top,
bottom, the edges,
and between lines
• example
Shims to tighten
Mask for edge of text to protect the
galley from ink
• Use a piece of scrap or
construction paper
• Cut out a rectangle to fit
your type to mask off any
extra around the frame
• If ink does get on the
mask (and you need to
reprint), put a scrap over
the spot so that it doesn’t
get on your Bristol paper
• Can also just use blue
tape
Printing Ink
• Open ink can with
screwdriver or paint
can opener
• Use the spackle knife
to remove only a small
amount of ink- just
enough to cover the
edge of the knife
• Scrape ink onto glass
and spread out
• Any unused ink can be
scraped up and put
back in the can
8 minute video on how printing ink is
made
http://youtu.be/Fypi6dAJB8E
Dilute with
Linseed Oil
• Use the dropper to add a
few drops of linseed oil to
the ink
• The ink in the top picture
is too thick (see the ripples
and hear the sticky sound)
• Add linseed oil until less
friction and less ripples
• Apply ink with narrow
brayer dedicated to
printing ink
Galley Prep
• Galley set with letters,
furniture, and shims
• Text is inked
• If there are inky spots on the
furniture or galley, cover them
with bits of scrap paper so
they don’t accidentally print
• Drop the thick bristol paper on
top
– do not reposition if it is tilted
• Place 2 -3 sheets of thin
scratch paper as ‘packing’
paper (helps prevent the
Bristol paper from being
damaged by the force of
printing)
• Add one more Bristol paper on
top
Printing
• Place galley in the
center of the press
• Use the handle and
crank the jack down
until it meets the galley
• Crank 2 more times
• Use the pressure
release and the top of
the press will raise
Results
• Release the jack with
the white knob
• Remove the galley
• Remove the top sheet
and packing paper
• Carefully peel up the
printed page
• It can pull on the type
so do it slowly to keep
the type in place
Printed Project
• Type will stay wet for at
least 24 hours
• Do not stack until dry
• If it takes longer than 24
hours to dry, the ink
was probably too thick
(use a few more drops
of linseed oil)
Take it home
• When the ink is dry, you
can take your project
home in a white
envelope.
Ink Cleanup
• Gloves
• Dishpans
• Vegetable oil- a few tablespoons
in the bottom
• Wipe off text first
• Then set a few pieces of type in
oily pan (don’t put all in as you
don’t want it to absorb the oil)
• Scrub with brush
• Wipe with paper towels until no
more ink left on type
• Clean the ink knife as well
• Scrub hands with Gojo soup to
get off any ink