6. Found out. The bounty of stencil designs isn’t limited to pre-made plastic or metal stencils. In Stencil Craft, Margaret Peot creates artwork using found items, such as leaves, keys, coins, mesh bags, and hardware. Experiment with various items along with different color mediums and tools to see what effects you can achieve. She suggests trying brushing and sponging on paint, and spraying on color. For even more depth, layer lace over found items, then use a spray color to create more complex patterns
Stenciling with with found objects, such as leaves and netting, produces unique results. (Photo by Christine Polomsky)7. Customize it. Creating your own stencils with basic tools is easy. Draw a design onto cardstock and cut it out with a craft knife, or, for more sturdiness, use a sheet of mylar and a stencil-cutting tool. In the March/April 2016 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, Cas Holmes created a stencil by drawing a poppy with a waterproof pen on a piece of plastic sheeting, then carefully cutting out the image with a craft knife on a cutting mat before painting the image. Using this technique you can stencil on fabric, paper, wood, or canvas for a custom look. To further embellish the design on paper or fabric, stitch around the design by hand or machine.
A handmade stencil becomes a custom element in collage. (Art and photo by Cas Holmes)8. Rise above. Stencils are handy for creating more than 2-D artwork; make dimensional embellishments that add texture and interest to mixed-media art. Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson show how in their book Alternative Art Surfaces. The process is super easy: Start by stenciling fiber paste (available at art supply stores) onto a sheet of polypropylene plastic, and allow it to dry. Next, peel the fiber paste elements from the plastic and glue them onto your substrate. The fiber paste can be painted when dry, or colored with paint before stenciling, or painted when dry.
Textured stencil designs on this piece were created with stencils and fiber paste.9. Book it. Make distinctive handmade book covers using stencils, paint, and sturdy paper. Andrew Borloz showed how stencils and color combine to create unique patterns in “Creating a Stenciled Pattern Book” in the January/February 2015 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. His tip for success in making books with stenciled covers and book cloth spines: Create a color chart to help you choose the best color combinations. If stenciling on colored paper, cut small pieces of paper and stencil on them with paint to see how the colors look before committing to them. To create crisp patterns on paper, Andrew recommends pouring acrylic paint onto a palette, and lightly dabbing a cosmetic wedge into the paint—the sponge should be moist, not wet. Then, carefully and lightly dab the paint onto the stencil, being careful not to push down too hard, which may cause the paint to bleed under the stencil design. Use several colors to create a distinctive ombre effect.
Stenciling with different colors of paint creates an ombre effect. (Art by Andrew Borloz, photo by Sharon White Photography10. Focus on the focal. A stencil doesn’t just have to create a design—it can be the design. Take, for example, the tunnel book created by Sarinda Jones in the article “Art on the Cellular Level” in the Winter 2014 issue of Pages magazine. In it, she uses hand-cut designs sandwiched between pieces of cardstock to form the pages of the book. She first cut 10 5″ x 5″ pieces of black cardstock, then drew and cut out circles in the middle of each one. She then drew an abstract pattern stencil design with pencil onto circle-shaped colored cardstock, and cut it out. The cut circles were sandwiched in between two black cardstock pages and glued, and the pages were bound into a spiral book. The result: a dramatic dimensional effect created by the stencil cutouts.
Stencils become the pages and the focus of this art book. (Art by Sarinda Jones, photo by Sharon White Photography)
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