Article Type Making Art Together Making Art Together Categories At Home Art Studio Drawing Painting Printmaking

Drawing with Stamps

Ryan Murray
This winter, we are bringing back homemade stamps for a new project inspired by the artwork of Ed Emberley!
A homemade stamp pad, homemade stamps and a basket of drawing tools.
Our stamp pads are made from upholstery foam and washable tempera paint, and our stamps are made from leftover receipt rolls and tape rolls. You can read our previous posts on how to Make Your Own Foam Stamp and Make Your Own Stamp Pads to use at home or in the classroom!
A stamp drawing that includes green handprints.
In books such as Ed Emberley’s Great Thumbprint Drawing Book, Emberley uses clever and simple drawings on top of his thumbprint to create fun-sized creatures. We brought this method to the studio, and I have been interested in how guests have been layering their stamps with the markers and pens.
A stamp drawing of a butterfly and flower
However, just because the stamps were round didn’t necessarily mean the creatures had to stay round as well! Many guests experimented with the stamps, using them as a tool for shading, as seen in this dragon here, where the artist used varying amounts of paint on the stamp to create different values. The blending made the original shape of the stamp almost completely invisible!
A stamp drawing of a blue dragon.
Other guests utilized the repetition of the stamp to create a leafy pattern for a tree!
A stamp drawing of a tree.
The use of stamp repetition to create a drawing is a popular technique that was even taught in one of my college classes. Though we have used stamps for projects in the Art Studio in the past, we had not included drawing tools for a while, so it has been wonderful to see the unique compositions!

Authors

Picture of Ryan Murray

Ryan Murray

Ryan was an Art Studio Coordinator and Guest Services staff member at The Eric Carle Museum from 2016 to 2023, and is a local artist.
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Making Art Together
Using self-adhesive foam and a base, create a customizable stamp.
Making Art Together
Create your own customizable stamp pads with tempera paint and upholstery foam.