Black and White Apple Prints: A Lesson in Contrast

I just love making apple prints and every year we do some version of this quintessential fall project. Although my girls would be perfectly happy doing a traditional version of the project – apples prints with red or green paint – I wanted to do something a bit different this year.

I updated the project, added a little twist, and used it to illustrate an art concept – contrast.

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What is contrast?

Very simply, contrast is a difference. It’s often shown in by using opposite elements. It’s used to create visual interest and drama in a piece of art.

One of the best ways to show contrast is through the use of black and white. I knew it would be the perfect way to illustrate this concept to my daughters using apple prints.

Supplies Needed

White card stock
Black paper
Glue
Apple
Black craft paint
White craft paint
Paintbrushes

Create Your Black and White Apple Prints Project

To begin the project, we wanted to create a piece of black and white checked paper.

We used the white card stock for a base. We cut the black paper into squares the same size as 1/4 of your piece of card stock.

Encourage your kids to do a little work with fractions and measurement to complete this step.

Glue your black paper to your card stock in opposite corners. It should look like the picture above. We used a glue stick for this step so we wouldn’t have to stop and wait for the glue to dry.

Now it’s time for the apple stamping! Cut an apple in half from the top to the bottom. You’ll use one half for the white paint and one half for the black paint.

Instead of dipping our apples in paint, we brushed it on for a more even coat.

Make one stamp in each of the four squares. Use white paint on the black paper and black paint on the white card stock.

Black and white apple prints are a very simple project, but it perfectly illustrated our art concept. We created a cool twist on a traditional craft and learned all about contrast in the process.

I love how the final project turned out. I think I’m going to frame these!

The 2nd Grade Blogging Team has been hard at work creating fun activities about apples. Check out the rest of the ideas below.

How to use an apple to explain basic fractions from Crafty Kids at Home
Apple Array Practice for Second Grade from Look! We’re Learning!
Apples Graphing Activity from Sallie Borrink Learning
Free Number Order Printable Apples from Life Over C’s
Preserve an apple from getting brown from Planet Smarty Pants
Apple Descriptions {adjectives} from School Time Snippets
Nouns and Verbs – Apple Theme from 123 Homeschool 4 Me
Apple Toothpick Tower Challenge from Preschool Powol Packets

You may also be interested in one of these fun art projects:

Symmetry Butterfly with Warm and Cool Colors

Painting on Music: Exploring Austria Though Art

Chinese Character Printmaking Project