Lesson Plan - Crayon Etchings/Crayon Scratch

Crayon Etchings 

Art 141 Art for Elementary Teachers 

Instructor Kelly Parker 

10 pts 

Grade – 2nd to 6th 

Time – 1 or 2 45 minute classes 

Etchings are made by scratching into a surface. You can create a beautiful crayon etching of your name by scratching lines into layers of crayon. 

Objectives – The student will

1. Learn about etchings 

2. Create a crayon etching 

3. Experience line 

Vocabulary – etchings, line – wavy, curved, straight, diagonal, round, etc 

Materials – poster board or old file folders crayons or oil pastels variety of drawing tools (toothpicks, large nails, paper clips...) sketchbook and pencil black tempera paint dish soap brushes and water 

Art production

1. Take a piece of poster board or an old manila file folder approximately 8” by 10”. Cover the gray side of the poster board with a layer of crayons, do not use dark colors. Use even, firm pressure. You can make it all one color or create a pattern of different colors. Press hard to cover the entire area of the poster board evenly with small patches of color no larger than 2” by 2”. 

2. Now color over the first layer of color with black tempera paint mixed with a small amount of dish soap. The dish soap helps the tempura adhere to the crayon layer. Let dry. 

3. While the paint is drying make several sketches in your sketchbook and chose the best one to recreate on your name in the crayon etching. Simple objects with interesting lines work best. Looking closely at the object will help you see the interesting lines, patterns, textures, and other details. 

4. Use a variety of drawing tools to draw different lines, patterns, and textures. Try toothpicks, unbent paper clips, nails, screws, or other tools that will scrape through the black layer without tearing the paper. Draw gently! If you make a mistake, reapply the tempura paint to cover it up. 

Examples – previous student work, artist etchings (Rembrandt, Durer), teacher example 

History – The art of engraving with acid on metal; also the print taken from the metal plate so engraved. In hard-ground etching, the plate, usually of copper or zinc, is given a thin coating or ground of acid-resistant resin. This is sometimes smoked so that lines scratched through the resin will be clearly visible. A needle exposes the metal without penetrating it. When the design is completed, the plate is submerged in an acid solution that attacks the exposed lines. During the bath, the plate is frequently removed, and such lines as are bitten to sufficient depth are coated with stopping-out varnish. The lines receiving the longest exposure to the acid will be the heaviest and darkest in the print. It is also possible to apply the acid locally to the plate. In printing, all varnish is removed, the plate is warmed, coated with etcher’s ink, and then carefully wiped so that the ink remains in the depressions but is largely or wholly removed from the surface. It is then covered with a soft, moist paper and run through an etching press. There are many variations in the technique of etching. Etchers often remove undesired lines by burnishing and otherwise change the first state of the plate from which they make their trial print. Certain etchings appear in many and widely differing states. Only a limited number of first-rate proofs can be made from a plate, and some etchers destroy their plates after making a given number of prints. Soft-ground etching gives effects similar to those obtained in pencil or crayon drawing, while aquatint approximates the effects of a wash drawing. Aquatint is often combined with hard-ground etching, as is also dry point. This latter technique is not true etching, as no acid is employed; drypoint produces a finer line than does aquatint. Pictorial etching evolved gradually from the earlier burin engraving. Both seem to have originated in Germany, where Dürer’s etchings on iron, made between 1510 and 1520, were probably the earliest important examples of art that in the following centuries was practiced by many of the greatest draftsmen and painters. Among the foremost in the history of etching are the works of Dürer, Callot, Rembrandt, the Tiepoli, the Piranesi, Goya, and Whistler. 

Extensions – a project that leads into printmaking, science nature drawings, social studies history of the time period, or artist Assessments – was crayon applied heavily? Was the assignment etched with the proper tools? Was the correct side of the poster board used? 

Closure – have each student show their name design to the class. Talk about lines used and clean up.