Lego Printmaking with Executive Director Venessa Castagnoli

The other night while scrolling through TikToK, when I should have been fast asleep, I came across a Lego printmaking project I just had to try. As an artist and mom, I am always on the lookout for friendly ways to show others how to be creative. Especially with a child, legos are a great way to entertain for hours while teaching some basic printmaking techniques. For this activity, all you need is a Lego base plate, lego dots, an ink roller, block printing ink, paper, and a heavy book. Full disclosure, I also utilized a small etching press, but as you will see below, it is not necessary. Check it out…

Suggested Materials

• Large Heavy Book or Printing Press
• Mixed Media Art Paper
• Block Printing Ink (You could use acrylic paint, but Block Printing ink is the preferable method)
• Rubber Roller and Smooth Surface
• Lego Base Plate
• Smooth Flat Lego Pieces

LEGO Printmaking Process

Step 1

Use a Lego base plate and the smooth flat Lego pieces for your design.

Step 2

Place two small dabs of block printing ink on your smooth surface, then use your roller to spread the ink evenly across the surface.

Step 3

Once your roller is covered in ink, roll over your baseplate Lego design.

Step 4

Place your baseplate on your etching printing press, then run the plate and paper through the press.

If you don’t have a press, place your plate on a sturdy surface and place a piece of paper cut to size on your baseplate. Put a heavy book on top of the baseplate design with paper, then press down firmly.

Step 5

Lift the paper from baseplate and let dry.

Printmakers in History

Francisco Goya:

Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters.

Mayumi Oda:

Known to many as the “Matisse of Japan,” artist Mayumi Oda was born to a Buddhist family in Japan in 1941. Oda graduated from Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Pratt Institute in New York. She is well known for her Buddhist Goddess Series.

Andy Warhol:

Andy Warhol was an American visual artist, film director, producer, and leading figure in the pop art movement.

Katsushika Hokusai:

Katsushika Hokusai, known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa.