Grade one students are working on a printmaking lesson based on Gyotaku, the ancient art of Japanese fish printing. 

Day one: We began this printmaking lesson by reading the book, Swimmy, by Leo Leonni. This book has illustrations made using printmaking processes. In some pictures, kids can identify what objects the artist used to make the print ("doilies etc...")
Next, we looked at photos of different varieties of fish. We talked about their different shapes and how one would go about drawing them. Sufficiently inspired, students went to work on detailed fish drawings which were then transferred to a styrofoam printing plate. When finished, I cut their plates out for them.


Day Two: We explored another kind of printmaking: Bubble printing. I mixed 3 parts bubble solution (you can get a gallon of it at the iparty store or at a toy store) with 3 parts tempera paint and 1 part water. The "water" colors (greens and blues) were set up in margarine tubs around the room. Each child was given their own straw for blowing. When the bubbles made a dome over the tub, they lowered their paper on top of it to pop the bubbles, creating a perfect bubble print on the paper. When repeated, they were able to cover their entire paper with bubbles, which simulated ocean water.

Day Three: Students looked at Japanese Gyotaku prints on the internet. We talked about their origin and significance:



Gyotaku (gyo=fish, taku=rubbing) was invented in the early 1800's in Japan by the fishermen to record their catch. This was their livelihood (not sport fishing as we have today) and they could document the size and types of fish caught and still take it back to be sold or eaten. Also, certain fish in Japan are revered and they would take rubbings of these fish and then place them back in the water. Japanese fishermen took newsprint, ink and brush out to sea with them. Prints were brought back and displayed in the homes of the fishermen either on walls or in journals to be used as conversation pieces and to relate proud and heroic stories of the catch. Japanese fishing magazines still hold contests where the judging is done from Gyotaku's. It has also developed into an art form; many created prints for their beauty, and added artistic elements.

Students each created three styrofoam "Gyotaku" prints of their fish plate on colored fadeless paper.
These, I cut out for students before the next class meeting.

Day Four: Finally, students placed their fish into their bubbly background and used sharpies and cray-pas to add details to their underwater world.