Collagraph Materials--what to seek out

I'm teaching a printmaking workshop at Flatbed Press this coming weekend. It's on collagraphs and I'm just giddy thinking about it! I have a long list of other things to do, but instead I'm day dreaming about this workshop. I teach kids this technique all the time, but the thought of adults... that actually interact... that want to learn and ask questions... Exciting!!

I just shot off an email to my students about gathering collage materials and I wanted to tell you folks, just in case you need any ideas.

I've used all kinds of things to make my plates, from tulle from the fabric store to bristles from a broom.

Here's a snap of my first collagraph plates. It's a Texas Shiner fish and the scales were made out of little round stickers that I layered on top of one another and then covered with a layer of glue before printing. The brown is inked intaglio and the blue is a relief roll. 

This fish was created using 3D paint from a craft store (dots), some wadded up tissue paper (background texture), tulle for the lips, and some acrylic paint (giving the eye some variation in tone.

Here's my last example. First I taped off the background to keep it clean, then applied a thick layer of modeling paste to the soon-to-be shirt. While the paste was just beginning to firm up, I used a pencil to make the swirls, hoping to mimic a knit shirt.

I teach a high school class and the kids love the look of scotch tape. Masking tape leaves a different mark but also quite interesting. There are so many possibilities with collagraphs...