Fun
The New Ancient Fun of Block Printing
Well, we all lost a couple of days when we were trying out our new block printing kit. Remember when you carved up a potato to make stamps? This is way easier, and you can save your potatoes for dinner.
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Intrepid team members Ashley and Hannah set up shop in the front of MDK World Headquarters, with the mission of Seeing What Happens when playing around with the simple materials of this kit.
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Paint and rollers.
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Graphic blocks.
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Cotton bandanas.
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We’ve got two different kits: one with cutouts that kind of look like Matisse got hold of them, and another with birds and flowers and stars. Hannah went with the cutouts, Ashley with the birds. This was completely unsurprising.
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It was interesting to see how they used the blocks.
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Hannah played with translucence and irregularity.
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Ashley went with symmetry and opacity.
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Once they got started, they just kept going.
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Which is what it’s all about, right? Seeing what happens when a set of simple materials and an ancient technique get into the hands of creative folks.
Inevitably, there’s talk of using all the stamps from both kits in one bandana. Irresistible!
Hope you’ll join in the block-printing joy with us. We’re running through our inventory of kits, but we’ve got them right here, right now.
Block printing is really fun. And it can be very addictive!
Ah, grade-school memories . . . we had fun with stamps, we even made our own cut-linoleum prints in 5th grade. Actually, pre-school memories, cuz at home I had my own little set of stamps and ink pads from the age of four or so. Loved ’em!
Go check Jen Hewett’s amazing book Print-Pattern-Sew-Block-Printing-Projects! Also Lotta Jansdotter’s books and art. It is SO MUCH FUN! Screen printing and thermofax screens are a blast also! Both of these women have a great sense of style that works brilliantly paired with knits (ahem)! Another favorite book of mine is by my friend Lynn Krawczyk. So many of the printing books are so artsy and (I say this as a textile artist) intimidating and off-putting. Lynn’s book is the one that opened the floodgates for me–go fling some paint! Lynn’s is Intentional Printing: Simple Techniques for Inspired Fabric Art. ENJOY. PS: I am not responsible for any Visa Accidents. ; )
I love block printing. It gets better each time I try it, because I learn a little more every time!