Potato Printing Part 1: How To Make A Potato Stamp

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I love the look of block prints. Over the past few years, block print designs have grown in popularity with the rise of British Designer Molly Mahon, and many others throughout the design industry. But really, the idea of block printing is not new and in fact, it has gone back generations among Asian craftsmen, particularly Indian artists. Typically fashioned out of large wooden blocks giving the designs their name, block print patterns feature carved designs which are then painted and printed on paper, fabrics, walls or any other surface. These repeating forms create patterns ranging from simple and geometric to large complex florals (like the fabric I used for our guest bedroom curtains), each with their own hand made interest. As I greatly admire the work of these artisans, I thought it would be fun to emulate block prints on a smaller scale with none other than the favorite kitchen ingredient: the potato. Also easily carvable, potatoes can be a wonderful medium for such designs and with a little practice can be used for a multitude of projects. While I won’t be diving into a full potato printing project just yet (but stay tuned for part 2!), I first wanted to address all the best tips I have learned on how to make a stamp for easy potato printing. So, if you are looking for a fun afternoon activity to tackle with kids, friends or just yourself, let’s dive into the process of potato printing!

Supplies

Cutting board
Knife – Preferably both a large and small knife
Potatoes
Pencil
Paint – I used acrylic paints here
Paper
Paint brush

Potato Printing: How To Make A Potato Stamp

When beginning to create a print with a potato, you first must decide what your print should look like! To do so, cut your potato in half, in either direction depending on your design preference. I would recommend cutting the potato with as thick of a knife as you have on hand to help create one smooth cut layer that is free from the potential waviness that a smaller knife may bring. This will help to create a smoother printing surface to provide a solid stamp.

Next, draw your design with a pencil! Draw your design well enough that you can distinguish your marks, however be aware that if you leave behind indentations that are not cut away, they can show up in your design such as the interior lines of my green triangles. I actually found that this gave unique interest, but if you are not wanting such additions, then be sure to draw really lightly.

Following drawing your design, cut it out with your knife! To test two methods, I first began with cutting only the potato around the design to leave the design raised (allowing the remainder of the potato to act as a handle), while for the second potato, I cut the design out entirely. Feel free to use either potato method, however I discovered that the second method worked much better to allow for a more complete grip when pressing the potato down for the print. I then went back and trimmed down the first potato to match and this became much easier to work with.

Potato Printing Part 1: How To Make A Potato Stamp

Finally, once your potato stamp is made, blot it dry with a paper towel. Then using acrylic paint (or paint of your choosing), apply the paint to the potato in a thin even layer with the paint brush. Starting in a corner of your paper, lay the potato straight down, press it evenly and then pick it back up again. Reapply another coat of paint and repeat! Be sure to apply a coat of paint between each stamp to ensure that you get a more even pattern.

After at least a few stamps, you will begin to see a pattern emerge with plays between the positive and negative space! Feel free to add apply the stamps in varying directions (such as a mix of horizontal and vertical like the blue pattern) or add additional accents within these forms to integrate more interest and color variations, such as I did with the varying shades of green. I felt this enhanced the design tremendously and really helped it to not only pull in multiple colors but also create a more “finished” appearance.

Continue stamping until you are satisfied with your designs and now you have just created your first potato printing trial!

Final Thoughts

While not a complete project just yet, creating a potato printing trial with a variety of patterns and shapes can be such a fun way to spend an afternoon. Let your creative juices flow with a variety of patterns and colors and you just might find one you want to implement throughout your home! In the coming weeks, I hope to create a few potato stamp patterns for various fun applications. But what do you think, would you give potato printing a try? Let me know in the comment section below and be sure to save this post for later project adventures!

Happy printing!