Projects so far

Saturday 9 July 2011

27th project completed - Polystyrene printing blocks

Hi all, well I have had a great time playing with the polystyrene block and made a lovely mess in the studio! What did I make?




Some polystyrene printing blocks of course! Polystyrene is so easy to cut and shape with just ordinary knives etc. It doesn't absorb paint and has a lovely smooth surface with a slight texture so is ideal for this kind of project.


I started with a design comprising of simple shapes and a few colours, so I didn't end up with anything too complicated as the polystyrene is prone to snapping if you attempt to fine a line.


Materials needed:



  • Block of polystyrene packaging
  • Sharp knife
  • Bread knife
  • Pen
Instructions

1. Using the bread knife cut the block down to a suitable size for your block, mine were about 21/2" square by 1".

2. Draw out your design and lay it on the first block. You will need one block for each colour minus the background. Draw around the design with the pen - leaving an indent on the block. Please remember to reverse the design if needed as the image produced by the block will obviously be reversed when printing.

3. Draw in the lines on your block following the indentations, With a sharp knife carve out the design leaving the areas you want each block to print.


4. Print away!!!!




1 comment:

Dina said...

What a brilliant idea! And so simple!