3 - Hokusai's Great Wave Prints

Inspired by Hokusai's wood block print, "Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)," students pulled their existing analysis from the ELA Wit & Wisdom curriculum and added artistic knowledge to it. They learned how to make a print on a styrofoam plate and made a practice print, learning the printmaking process. We then did a drawing tutorial and broke down the drawing process step-by-step to learn how to draw Hokusai's "Great Wave." We then etched our own wave design on a larger styrofoam plate and had a chance to make at least two full-size prints. Young artists then learned how to create a reduction print by removing an element from their printing plate and emphasizing an element on one of their completed prints. Finally, they ranked their prints, and chose the best two to display, signing, titling, and numbering them before choosing a background mount. One print will hang in their classroom space and the other will come home ready to display in a home gallery!