Styrofoam Plate Print (Part 10)

Practice relief printing in this art lesson: styrofoam plate print (part 10).

🎨 Studio Brief #56

Draw into a styrofoam plate to create a printing plate.

🎯 Your mission

Spend 10 quiet minutes with this project.

⚡ The twist

Don't fix mistakes. Build with them.

What you'll learn

Draw into a styrofoam plate to create a printing plate. The lines you draw will stay white while the raised areas pick up ink.

Get ready

Techniques you'll practise

relief printingbrayer inkingeditioning

Printing paperStyrofoam traysFoam printing plates

Step 1 of 4

Draw your design into a clean styrofoam plate using a ballpoint pen. Press firmly to make grooves.

Step 2 of 4

Roll printing ink onto the plate surface with a brayer. The ink covers the flat areas but not the grooves.

Step 3 of 4

Place paper on top of the inked plate. Rub the back firmly and evenly with a spoon or barren.

Step 4 of 4

Peel the paper away to reveal your print. Make multiple copies—each one is an original!

Did you know?

🤯 Mind = Blown

🤯 Art rules exist mostly so you can break them on purpose.

🌟 Artist Spotlight

🎨 Every artist you've heard of started with one wobbly first try.

You did it!

🎯

We'll pick an art project that matches exactly where your skills are right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this: Art shapes everything you look at — once you notice, you can't unsee it.

🏆 Try this week: Make one piece of art today — even tiny, even messy.

👨‍👩‍👧 At dinner: “Tell me about the part of your art you love the most.”

Send it to a parent looking for a 15-minute screen-free creative win.