Fall Reflections Monoprints

Students will create a fall scene using the monoprinting method. They will create simple space, the foreground and the background using one line.

By Pat Higgins

What You Need:

• one piece of 80lb white paper 12×18 (sulphite or watercolor)
• brushes
• water
• newspaper
• tempera paint (full palette)
• watered down blue tempera or blue watercolor
• crayons

What You Do:

1. Fold the 12 x 18 white paper the long way (hot dog way).
2. On the middle fold going up, draw a series of trees using the “Y” method. Draw a straight line for the trunk and then a “V” in the middle so it looks like a “Y”. Branch off drawing with “V”‘s from there. Keep the tree very simple and varied. Have some tall and some bending. Try to work them across the paper until it is full of trees.
3. The space below is the water which will reflect the trees.
4. Once you’ve drawn the trees, fold the paper back again, and with a ruler edge rub the trees so that the crayon transfers to the bottom (water area).
5. Next, taking dabs of autumn colors work one tree at a time, dotting the branches and then bending the paper to create the blob on the bottom, Continue doing so, until you’ve got a autumn look.
6. I then have kids take the watered down tempera and fill in blue area, sky and water. Some children will want to draw in more, they will need to do before painting. I double mat these in fall colors around a festive board… always beautiful to look at.

Images: Ms Bellis, Denise Pannell and Connie Bimm.

See more examples at Artsonia.