"Print Making in Arabic Class" with Molly Janicki

Last week, all the Arabic classes in my program came together to do the activity: print making. This is the process of carving a design onto a surface, covering it with a layer of paint, and then transferring it onto paper. We had a great time listening to Arab music while crafting our prints!

To begin with, we had to select the design that we wanted to make a print of. I chose an image of a sand dune with the sun above it to represent the Maghreb. After choosing our images, we moved onto using a pencil to outline the image on the paper. Then we used graphite from our pencil markings to create an outline on a piece of linoleum. This was done by tracing over the paper to transfer the graphite from our outlines to an outline of the image on the linoleum.

After we had our picture on the linoleum, which is a sort of plastic medium, we then had to carve out the design. We used these sharp, curved tools to carve the graphite out of the sheet. After we had our carving, we then used a paint roller to cover the surface of the linoleum. I chose red. Then, the carving was flipped onto a clean piece of paper and the reflective image was transferred onto the paper, creating a print.

The photos above show: 1. The Arabic classes standing with our prints. 2. Us working on our prints. 3. Me after peeling away the linoleum. 4. I went first to paint my carving. Photo credit: Colleen Daley, 2024.

Molly Janicki is a student at American University and is studying abroad on the Amideast Area and Arabic Studies Program in Rabat, Morocco this spring 2024.