Stenciling 101
By Carol WallaceLesson 1: Why Stencil? How and What to Stencil and What to Use
Some people are lucky. They can draw and paint freehand beautifully. That means that whatever they want to decorate with paint they can do – without aids. Some of the rest of us don't have that talent, but still have the urge to put our mark on things – to decorate around a window frame, or to make a little wooden box into something special. And, thanks to stencils, we, too can turn plain into pretty.
Even professional artists sometimes turn to stencils, however. Sometimes uniformity is desirable and it is much easier to create a pattern uniformly with a stencil than to freehand it. It is also faster. A large-scale mural is time consuming but with stencils you can sometimes speed things up – or have someone a bit less artistically talented give you a helping hand.
Stencils are used on more things than you might imagine. We'll take a look at many of those uses, as well as trying a very simple, basic stencil so you can get the feel of the process in this lesson. You'll find that stenciling is easy and fun - and the basics you learn in this lesson are a great foundation to all kinds of more elaborate adventures in paint. Once you have this foundation, all things are possible.
To prove my point, the monkeys you see in the photo here were one of my earliest projects. If I can do it that fast then by the end of the class you should be able to as well.
So let's get started. But before we put paint to stencil, we need to examine all the suppplies that you may need, as and learn why we might choose one option over another.
Different Types of Stencils
If you've looked at the crafts stores you have probably seen the typical see-through stencils that are probably the most common type of stencil sold. But while they are the most common, they are by no means the only type. There are stencils made from oiled paper, brass, copper, and even tape. Plus there are things that can be used as stencils such as pieces of lace, doilies and anything else that has open work that you can stencil through. Some are ready made and others can be made at home. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. So let's look at the different types, from the most familiar to the most exotic.
Mylar stencils
Most stencils available in stores today are made from some form of plastic, usually Mylar. Most frequently, it is clear, so that you can see through it to position it among other elements of a mural or design. On occasion, they are semi-opaque, and tinted in pink, blue or sometimes lavender.
Tinted Single Overlay Stencils The tinted ones are almost always single overlay stencils. Since they are meant to be used alone, we don't need to be able to see through them. Simply using the registration marks will allow us to position the stencil the way we need it. These are often of a heavier gauge, as well. This means that they are very sturdy, which is an advantage. But if they are thick then they are not very flexible, which means that if you are doing a room border and need to turn a corner, you won't be able to bend the stencil to just go around the corner without stopping. Instead you will have to do some measuring and calculating to figure out how to space your stencil - and perhaps add another element in the corners to adjust for the problem.
The thicker tinted stencils are usually inexpensive, though, and come in many designs that can be used in interesting ways. I used several of these to create the border of the stenciled Oriental rug in my dining room.
The thickness also makes them suitable for plaster stenciling, which we will look at briefly in a later lesson. Using joint compound instead of paint, and applying it with a spatula, you end up with a low relief design which can produce many interesting effects.
Most single overlay stencils have what are referred to as "bridges." These are interruptions in the design that are needed to hold the stencil together. Cut them away and your design will fall apart. Leaving the bridges in gives a charming, old fashioned look to your finished project, but if you are careful and clever you can take paint and fill in the gaps left by the bridges for a more hand-painted and less obviously stenciled look. And it's not cheating - you DID have to hand paint to get it to look that way!
Clear Mylar or Film Stencils: While you can find many single overlay stencils using the clear film, the material is almost invariably used for multiple overlay stencils, so that you can see through them to what you have already painted. So if you are doing a rabbit, for instance, you may have one overlay for the body, another for the nose, eyes and tail. You would stencil in the body, then remove that stencil and put the second overlay on top of it. Because you can see through this, you can position it to make sure the nose is in place, the pink of the ear centered in the middle of the brown fur you just stenciled, and the tail joined directly to the rabbit's bottom. These stencils also use registration marks, to make the alignment precise - but it's reassuring to be able to actually see that you are in the right place.
The stencil above uses both single and multiple overlay stencils. The kitten tracks are single overlay - you can see the bridges. But in context, it works even with the more detailed appearance of the other stenciled objects. The kitten itself took several overlays.
Many multiple overlay stencils are also called theorem stencils. . The use of overlays eliminates the "bridges" that are so inevitable in a single overlay stencil. The result is a design that looks hand painted. Unless someone knows the stencils you used, they might easily assume that you did the job freehand, especially if you are creating a single small stencil - a flower, a small animal, etc, or a mural with many different elements. Borders and other repetitive designs are more easily identifiable as stencils simple because the repeats are so identical. Nevertheless, you get a richness and sophistication - and even realism - with the use of multiple overlays that few people would care that it wasn't freehanded. And some styles of décor look best utilizing identical repeated elements.
Most clear stencils also bend easily, which means they easily go around corners and eliminate a lot of spacing and measuring problems. But these are also available in heavier gauges - thick enough to use for plaster stencils with some decent relief. There are even plastic stencils available in books - each designed around a specific theme. Many of these are extremely simple and make heavy use of bridges. But some, especially some of the borders, are very nice.
We will talk about making your own stencils in a later lesson - but using clear stencil film is by far the easiest way to do this. You can easily trace a design on it because you can see through it. Stencil film is available in many online art supply stores - and in the pinch, you can use the clear plastic covers that are used to cover term papers and reports.
Sometimes the clear stencils come with the pieces not entirely detached from the stencil. They can be cut easily away and put to use. They are especially good for creating a shadow around the element - just put the giant plastic rabbit body cutout over the rabbit, for instance, and stencil a purplish grey line faintly around the side opposite the light and you have a very precise shadow. But many people also use these to create reverse stencil effects. Take the little pieces from a daisy stencil, or a butterfly (or both), arrange them on a piece of greeting card stock and mist with spray paint and you have a negative impression of the daisy on a home made card in seconds.
Paper Stencils:
Some stencils - especially those that you might find in antique stores, are made from oiled paper. Basically, they are made from heavy gauge paper such as that used for manila file folders, which are brushed first with boiled linseed oil to make them flexible. If you can draw, or if you use carbon paper you can make your own stencils this way.
Most often today you will find paper stencils in books of "Cut and Use" stencils. Most of these are published by Dover Books, so that you can buy a book full of Victorian, Art Deco, Art Nouveau, floral or other style stencils. You cut the stencil from the book, oil the paper and then cut the dark parts of the design out of the stencil with a craft knife. This is how I made my very first stencils, and the practice cutting these out was invaluable later when I decided to create a couple original ones for myself.
Finally you will find books of stencil patterns - but these are not stencils. They are designs which you can use to make stencils. You will need carbon paper, an opaque projector or some other manner of transferring the design to stencil film or paper. One method is to rub a heavy soft lead pencil all over the back of the design. They use the pencil point or a ballpoint pen to trace over the design once you have laid it on the film or paper to which you want to transfer it. For simple designs, this can be well worth the effort. For detailed designs, it can be pretty labor-intensive. Many commercial books about stenciling include patterns like this, and there are also many Dover Books featuring stencil designs like these.
Using masking tape to create stencils
For some simple projects - creating the look of faux brick or stone walls, or masking off a border on an area that you plan to paint do that the masked line will remain unpainted, masking tape can become the stencil. I buy ¼" quilters tape, which is narrow enough to create a convincing grout line. Then using a level I mark off the horizontal and vertical lines to create brick or stone shapes to the desired size and paint over them. Remove the tape and you have instant bricks. (Using two or three colors looks most convincing - a red, a brown and either a lighter clay color or an orange, and pouncing them randomly, allowing them to overlap until the blank space is all covered creates a realistic looking brick color.) The "stone blocks" you can see in this photo were done that way.
You can also use tape to create a "rug" by first of all masking off the sides to whatever dimensions you desire, and then laying down interior rectangles outlined in tape, or a diamond pattern, squares, etc. Then just paint over them - you can even use real paint and a roller) and when you remove the tape the wall color showing through where the tape was will create a rug design. Freehand on a bit of fringe, stencil some flowers inside some of your rectangles or diamond shapes, then sit back and enjoy. If you're doing this on the actual floor, be sure to sand it first to give the paint something to grip, and to seal it with a clear acrylic sealer after you are done.
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