Art Recess: Solar Prints

To get started, head to Park-Like across the street from the Pulitzer Arts Foundation or to another local nature space. Your own yard or street corner works great too!

Take a nature walk and write down what you see in a field journal. You can list different plants that you find interesting, draw a favorite vista, or write a personal reflection. This step is optional, but it will be helpful to draw on your notes for inspiration later on.
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Photograph by Virginia Harold 1/16

Gather natural materials from your home or neighborhood surroundings. What do you want to feature on your print? Consider collecting fallen leaves, flower petals, feathers (using gloves), berries, and small twigs; choose natural subjects that are interesting to you.

Tip: Collect different parts of the same plant, like the leaves, stem, and flower. 2/16

Gather artmaking materials. For this project you will need:

- A piece of construction paper in a dark color like blue, black, or green
- Scotch tape
- Painter's tape or masking tape 3/16

Arrange your natural materials. Create a collage by combining different materials and making new shapes. Here are some creative ideas to help guide your printmaking:

- Make a collage of plants that represent the current season and make more throughout the year. If it is springtime, look for pansies and tulips. In summer, wildflowers. In the midwestern winter, when most things are covered in snow, gather sprigs of evergreen trees to feature in a seasonal collage.
- Since you will only see the shadow of your natural materials in the finished print, try making an entirely new image by arranging them in creative ways. Think about making a self-portrait, landscape, or entirely new flower.
- Decorate the edges of your construction paper, making a frame out of flowers or leaves. After you have made the print, draw, paint, or write a letter in the center!

For information on how to make a botanical zine, keep scrolling to the end of this tutorial. 4/16

When you are happy with your arrangement, carefully tape your arrangement to the construction paper. This step can be tricky; it is important to avoid letting your materials shift around or fall. Remember that anything placed on your construction paper directly can leave an impression, so tape wisely!

To use the tape, roll small pieces of tape into thin tubes and stick them on the underside of your material. Alternatively, you can use small amounts of sticky tack using the same process. 5/16

Using painters tape, place your print to a sunny window with the plant material facing outside. Leave your print up for at least 2 days—the longer you leave your print, the clearer the impression will be.

If you do not have painter’s tape, masking tape will work in a pinch. Just remember that it will be more likely to leave a residue on your window! 6/16

Enjoy your solar print! After the sun has worked its magic, you can hang your print, make it into a card, slip it into your notebook, or check out the following tutorial on making a DIY zine. If you do leave yours out to display, try to keep it away from direct sunlight so the print doesn’t fade away over time!

Once finished, head to the park and start another solar printing project. 7/16

Botanical Zine
This spin on solar printing allows you to turn your solar prints into a self-made book about the plant life of your backyard, garden, favorite public park, or bio-region. For this project, you will need:

- Gathered plant material
- Construction paper in a dark color for your prints; additionally, you will need a few more sheets of construction paper for the booklet pages and cover
- A sewing needle
- Thread (Tip: Use thick thread like sashiko thread or DMC embroidery floss for best results)
- Tape or glue
- Assorted craft supplies to decorate the cover and inside pages 8/16

To start, follow the same directions for making a regular solar print above. Since each page of your booklet will be half the size of regular construction paper, it’s a good idea to use a small area for your design. 9/16

While your prints develop in the window, get started on making your book.

Gather a few sheets of construction paper for the pages and stack them on top of eachother. Choose an additional piece of construction paper for the cover, and add it to the top of the pile. In this example, the cover page is blue and the inside pages are white. 10/16

Fold the stack of construction paper in half “hamburger style,” bringing the short ends together. Crease the fold line well with your fingers. 11/16

This next step involves using a needle, so young zine-makers should make sure to grab a grown-up before starting.

Open the book up so it lays flat and poke three holes down the center of the fold. The center hole should sit at the center of the booklet’s “spine,” while each outside hole should sit about 1 ½” from each edge. 12/16

Using your needle and thread, sew the booklet together following these steps:

1) Bring the needle down through the center hole, leaving about 3 inches of tail
2) Bring the needle up through the bottom hole and down through the top hole
3) Bring the needle back up through the center hole, and double tie the remaining thread to the tail you left in step one
4) Snip your threads just about the knot

Using a needle and thread can be intimidating, but have no fear! Binding a booklet is a lot like threading shoelaces. 13/16

When your prints are developed, take them off the window and cut out the impressions left by your plant materials. Tape or glue the cutouts to the pages of your booklet. 14/16

With your book bound and prints inserted, all that is left to do is create a cover and fill the pages with the information you learned about each plant!

To do this, spend some time identifying and researching the plants that you have collected. You can use the plant finder linked above to learn different things about your plant, like:

- common name
- genus/species
- uses
- if it is a native, naturalised, or invasive species
- other interesting information (e.g. Does it attract butterflies? When does it bloom?) 15/16

Finish your project by adding a title and cover art. Add your botanical zine to your library and choose another natural space to explore for the next one. 16/16

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Art Recess: Solar Prints

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