Stencils are a great introduction to printmaking and can be combined with a wide variety of art mediums. If prepared well a stencil can create a unique print with a lot of character. The simplest stencil can be made with a piece of paper and scissors. Simply cut a shape out from a piece of paper. But I recommend investing in a x-acto knife with a #2 blade. This allows for great detail in creating the stencil.
First step will be cutting out the shape you want to stencil. Then hold the paper onto your artwork surface, which could be paper, canvas, panel, etc. Then apply paint carefully over the stencil opening with your brush.
Materials needed: brushes, paint, paper, x-acto knife, cutting board, paint palette, masking tape
For brushes there a number of options but my favorite is blick’s “mega bristle brush”
I like this brush for stenciling because it covers alot of area and its sturdy. As far as paint goes I recommend using a value priced artist acrylic. The paint will dry quickly and the consistency of acrylic won’t interfere with the stencil paper.
As far as paper goes, I recommend using a paper with enough weight to hold up during the paint application. A decent drawing paper works fairly well. Paper from an 11″ x 14″ drawing pad like this one should work well.
In my next post I’ll talk about the process of cutting out the stencil with an xacto knife!