by Jenny Mead

Introduction:
Today we are going to create a relief scene on railroad board with which you can then use to make your own rubbings. For our final rubbings you will also be able to use texture boards to complete your final composition.

Materials:

Directions:

1. On newsprint, sketch an idea for your scene. You need only sketch the basic positive shapes because details will not transfer through to a final rubbing. Pretend that you are drawing only the shadows, or silhouettes, of the objects.


2. Now transfer your sketch onto railroad board. We will cut out all the positive shapes and glue them onto another piece of board later. If you want to make the rubbing even more interesting, you can layer the shapes on top of each other to create a more complex relief.


3. Glue the railroad shapes onto the backing piece to make your composition. Set this aside to dry.


4. Use the Texture boards supplied to rub background textures onto your paper. Overlap textures and colors for a more interesting effect. Once your relief is dry, you can rub its relief over the other textures to finish.

Art Terms:
Texture – the tactile quality of a surface.
Relief – in sculpture, any work in which the figures project from the background, also designates a printmaking method in which shaped or textured printing elements- natural, manufactured, molded, built-up, or carved- are adhered to a board, inked and then hand printed in the manner of a woodcut.
Silhouette – any portrait, design, or image in profile in a single hue (usually black), the outline of any person or thing.

References:
The Harper Collins Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques; Second Edition. Ralph Mayer ed. Harper Collins. New York. 1991.

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