Frottage – The process of making rubbings on paper of objects or textures underneath

(Pronounced frot-ahzh)

To remember what frottage means, recall the following:

She used rubbings of fern fronds to make a montage (frottage) on her living room wall.

Creating an effective frottage piece is quick and easy. All you need is paper and some coloured chalks, charcoal, pencils or pastels.

Simply rub your chosen medium over different textures such as tree bark, leaves, coins or any other surface with a raised pattern.

However, you can take it to the next level and create something more unusual.

Sketch a drawing onto your paper: it can be anything you like, but something with more than one side or colour or pattern works well. 

Once you've sketched your outlines, rub the pastels over various surfaces, staying within the lines of each section.

You can do this in monochrome (just using one colour) or use a different colour for each section.

You can also try rubbing a random shape or line and building on that to create an image.

Add a head, some legs, fur and belly scales and this green line could make a great dragon.

You can also create something more abstract with frottage.

Try sketching an abstract character, with lots of different shapes.

Fill in each shape with a different pattern or texture to create a look of a mismatched teddy bear.

You can also try to create a portrait using frottage. To make darker tones, simply press the pencil harder and apply less pressure for lighter tones. 

Sketch a simple portrait.

Rub your pencil over the top, paying attention to the light and dark areas. Lace is a particularly good texture to use.

Finally, why not try layering different colours over the top of each other?

Rub a coloured pastel over an interesting texture.

Turn the paper each time you add a new colour until you're happy with your design.

Frottage.