Styrofoam Plate Print (Part 5)

Practice relief printing in this art lesson: styrofoam plate print (part 5).

🎨 Studio Brief #26

Draw into a styrofoam plate to create a printing plate.

🎯 Your mission

Trust your hands more than your head.

⚡ 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

Linoleum blocksCarving tools (supervised)Block printing inkBrayer

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.