It’s dark, cold and miserable outside so how about a quick and crafty project to keep the little ones entertained? Here we show you how to make super easy animal plates with POSCA pens. You can whip up a whole zoo’s worth of characterful dishes by using our tried and tested drawing techniques that are easy to master .
Colourful and brimming with creative possibilities, POSCA paint markers are ideal for a crafternoon or rainy day activity. The coloured markers are non-toxic and water-based so you don’t have to worry about any nasties. Plus POSCAs are a great multi-purpose, multi-surface pen. They work on all manner of materials so you can create a whole range of things to do…
POSCA paint markers permanent and bleed-proof on paper and card (as it absorbs into the fibres), and can be made permanent on the following:
- – Terracotta – bake at 220°C for 45 minutes, then spray with clear varnish
- – Porcelain – bake at 160°C for 45 minutes, then spray with clear varnish
- – Glass – bake at 160°C for 45 minutes then spray with clear varnish
- – Textiles – iron on reverse
- – Metal, stone, leather, plastic and wood – spray with clear varnish
Make animal plates with POSCA pens
We have got a really easy technique for you and children to make simple animal plates with POSCA pens. It really is a question of mastering simple circles, half circles, triangles and heart shapes.
All you need for this project are some mini dishes (you can buy some here or up-cycle old saucers), some POSCA pens in various sizes and some clear varnish.
Try a tiger plate
To make this super cute tiger plate simply follow our step by step…
Step 1, use a yellow POSCA to draw a semi-circle at the bottom of your dish as shown. Now colour in the top section and leave to dry. Then colour in the bottom with a white POSCA.
Once your base colours have dried you can overlay. Use a contrasting POSCA colour like orange to make a strip in the middle of the top section. Then use a black POSCA to draw triangle in the bottom area as shown.
One you’ve got all your basic shapes coloured in you can add in your features such as stripes, whiskers, closed eyes and a little smile!
Rocking robin plate
Making a robin plate couldn’t be simpler. Change the colours to create a managerie of avian friends!
This also makes the basis of our foxy plate with just a few adaptations.
Using a red POSCA draw the top of a rounded heart shape in the top of the disc as shown with the ‘point’ hitting the middle of the plate. To create the fox, make a deeper shape with ‘point’ joining towards the bottom.
Colour the two halves as shown. We use brown or bronze with red for our robin designs.
Once all the coloured-in dishes are dry, use contrasting Posca colours to draw in highlights, eye and beaks. You can draw simple circles for the eyes or be more expressive, or simply have the eyes closed. For the fox draw in a black triangle where the heart meets and round off the top. Then draw a very fine line with a soft diamond shape at the bottom for the mouth.
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Leave to dry then use another set of contrasting Posca colours to add details such as fur and highlights. Once your designs are all completely dry, apply a clear varnish over your finished coasters.
