Have I written before about how much I love and rely on the humble stencil?
I’m sure I have. Even so, tonight I will write about stencils again.
This is a picture of the wall below the window in my studio, behind my worktable. It’s one of the places where I store stencils so they are always handy.
I have not discovered any tool in my surface design toolbox as versatile, as effective, as quick to make, as easy to use, as inexpensive or as useful as the wonderful, humble stencil.
I’m clearly a fan.
This weekend I was working through a collage-on-paper that I started earlier in the week. It consists primarily of rectangular pieces of color and pattern. The colors are pleasing. The composition is balanced. But it’s just got no life (yet) and desperately needs some contrast.
Organic shapes (like leaves) are always interesting used in conjunction with simple geometric shapes.
I pulled out a well-used leaf shape from my stencil file and laid it down on the composition. Yes. Exactly where I need to go.
This stencil was cut from a manila file folder years ago. From being well-used, it is well-coated with acrylic paint and quite sturdy. It is almost exactly the shape I want for the work-in-progress, but I want the leaves to display just a tad differently.
Time to cut a new one.
My favorite tool is a boxcutter from the hardware store. The blades are thin but quite strong. When a blade gets dull you just break it off with pliers and use the next section. The handle is great and you can really lean into the cutting — helpful if you are cutting plastic or a stronger stencil material.
Remember the strong compositional possibilities of a stencil: You always have a positive and negative to work with.
If I roll paint over this stencil, I will be painting the shapes of the leaves. Pick a color with strong contrast to show up against the background. (Or – mix your paint with matte medium for a transparent image and some subtle layering.)
If I use the stencil like this:
rolling paint over the positive shape, I will be painting the background with the underneath colors showing through inside the leaves. You can experiment: Try rolling the paint on the background and letting it gently fade off away from the stencil shape. Or, tape a straight-edge shape around the stencil so your background color has a clear stopping point. (You create a leaf-in-a-box.)
One more versatile thing about stencils: For design variety and harmony, print some of the shapes with the stencil face up, and then some with the stencil face-down. You’ll be creating mirror-image shapes in your artwork, a nice way to connect sections.
Happy creating.
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EXHIBITS AND COMING EVENTS
SAQA Global Exhibit: Bearing Witness is exhibiting at the Historical and Cultural Society of Clay County in Moorhead, MN, USA October 10 – December 27. My work, Do Not Look Away, is part of this moving and powerful exhibit. All of the works address serious and sobering subjecting matter: violence and oppression against targeted groups.
Do Not Look Away Quilt constructed in three panels Overall 54”H x 86”W
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I’ll be exhibiting in person November 21-22 in DeLand, Florida:
For all of us: focus each day on the good
that needs to be done in the world.
Be part of doing it.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
How I keep in touch:
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