SOMETHING FOR YOU TO DO.

Southland Times, Issue 23989, 2 December 1939, Page 7 (Supplement)

SOMETHING FOR YOU TO DO.

POTATO BLOCK PRINTS

Do you want to know an easy way to make your own designs for greeting cards, wrapping tissue,

writing paper, scrapbook covers, shelf paper, or any paper surface? The answer is potato block prints. . , , The materials required are few. White potato—large and firm. Paring knife. Water-colour brush — medium size, with pointed end. Poster paint (also called showcard colour or tempera, and obtainable at any art-supply store).

Paper (any kind, except that with a glossy surface). Cut the potato into halves. The cut surface should be level. If it is not, shave it down until it is perfectly flat. Use simple designs and paint directly on the flat surface with the brush and paint. Brush strokes give, the right thickness of line. It may seem difficult at first, but if you make a mistake, simply wipe the paint off the potato and start again.

, To make Fig. 1, dip the brush in the paint, draw a circle for the centre of the flower, fill in the pointed petals, and draw a stem and leaves. Make the design as large as the potato surface will allow.

With your knife, cut away the unpainted areas to a depth of about one-quarter inch (Fig. 2). Paint lightly over the entire raised surface with your brush, press the potato gently on a piece of paper, and there’s the print. Notice that it is the reverse of your original design. , ± ... , If little spots of potato outside of the flower design are printing, cut them away and trim ragged edges. Cut through the potato on four sides of the design as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. The straight sides act as guides to

printing your pattern straight up and down. The' first impressions you make may be smudgy, but after a few prints the starch in the potato will mix with the paint and give clear prints. The potato has to be repainted for each impression. , , , Fig 3 shows a boat and an anchor. These two separate de-

signs were printed alternately in soft yellow-green and vermilion, on grey charcoal paper to be used, for a notebook cover. The flower in Fig. 1 could be painted one colour and the leaves and stems another on the same potato. To make wrapping tissue with every sheet exactly the same, draw dark lines, evenly spaced, with a ruler on a piece of heavy paper. Fasten to a drawing board or table with thumbtacks, and fasten the tissue paper over it. You will

see the heavy lines through the tissue and be assured of even

spacing. When you have finished printing the first sheet of tissue, replace it with a new one, ana so on. The illustrations show three ways, of printing writing paper. Be sure to cut initials in reverse. A potato block will make many impressions before it wears out. Potatoes shrivel, however, and

should be used as soon as possible after cutting. If you have to keep a potato overnight, wrap it in a damp cloth and put it into the icebox.