February Technique

Name: Mess Hall Arts
Price range: $

Every month, Mess Hall Arts focuses on one art technique to feature in its classes, events and camps. February’s technique is stamping Stamping involves applying ink or paint to a stamp and pressing it onto a surface to create an image. Stamping can be used to create textures, patterns and embossed images.

The history of stamping as an art technique includes the use of seal stamps in ancient civilizations and rubber stamps in the 19th century. Andy Warhol made stamping popular in the 1950s.

During ancient civilizations, Seal stamps were used for authentication and correspondence. They were made fro materials like clay, wax and lacquer. During Medieval Europe, nobility used metal or hardwood stamps with family crests. During Asian civilization, Chinese officials used jade or bronze seals during the Shang Dynasty. In Japan, the “hanko” was used for personal transactions.

A black and white illustration depicting a medieval scene titled The Dance of Death and Life in the Middle Ages. It shows skeletal figures dancing with people in traditional medieval attire, set against a cloudy sky.

Rubber stamping began in the 1860s when Charles Goodyear perfected the vulcanization process, which allowed rubber to be molded and hold an impression. By 1886, B.B.Hill patented the self-inking stamp. In the 1950’s Andy Warhol used handmade rubber stamps to create patterns and symbols in his commercial work and paintings.

Close-up of a table with a rubber stamp carving in progress. Several wooden blocks with pink rubber stamps of abstract designs are visible. A person’s hands are stamping black ink onto paper. An ink pad is nearby.

Whether you are a stamping professional, scrapbooking guru or a newbie with stamps, this is one art technique everyone can enjoy!