Elizabeth Catlett is an African American artist who worked in a lot of different mediums, including prints, woodcuts, and linocuts. Her work focuses on themes of social injustice, the human condition, historical figures, and the relationship between mother and child. She was born in 1915 and died in 2012 at the age of 96.
This project is one of the virtual classes exploring women artists, hosted on Facebook Live from 1:30-2pm every Wednesday and Friday. Materials and instructions are posted here afterwards. Tune into the live classes to ask questions, give suggestions, and interact with other students who are stuck at home!
If you want to watch the recording of the live video, check out our Facebook page or Youtube channel!
Materials
- Elizabeth Catlett PDF Handout
- Something to draw with
Instructions
- Check out some of Elizabeth Catlett’s work! Google search Elizabeth Catlett linocuts to get inspiration for your handout!
- To imitate the look of Catlett’s prints, use hatching and cross hatching, which is a technique using parallel lines close together. Cross hatching uses the same line techniques, but using lines at different angles to create the effects of shadowing.
- Try using hatching and cross hatching on “Sharecropper” on the handout.
- Feel free to use hatching and cross hatching on the portrait of Elizabeth Catlett on the right as well, or you can color it in however you like!