Stenciling
From Steal This Wiki
Stenciling, while useful for making props in the theatre or painting walls in less than legal ways, is a simple, easy, and user-friendly way of doing a lot of things that you probably always wanted to! Paint your own clothing, use it as a new art medium, send a message on the barren walls of the cement prison we call civilization, decorate your room, alter advertisements for the better, or just simply make things pretty: you can do a lot with stencils!
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Design
Stencilling is quite simply making a mask which is painted over to print out a message, a picture, in graphical form. Of course this is all very simple but to make it effective and sharp some care needs to be taken.
Your pictures/words etc, will be in the space you cut out, here some trouble is caused when you have empty space inside letters or shapes. Since to get a continuous area of paint onto your surface, the inside is hard to support. With many designs, a few small supporting 'arms' placed well can work effectively to hold up your stencil material on the inside. If you're really concerned about this, then when you are finished stencilling touch it up carefully with a bit more of your paint into a solid area. Good design should avoid having these areas as far as possible.
Thin areas of mask also can have problems, with the paint 'bleeding' through underneath if you aren't careful; try and use thick areas as far as possible.
It is a good idea to draw/print out a copy of your design on paper first, then lay it out on top of your mask material and use a pin to prick the vital points, then recreating. Or cut through both with a knife at the same time, this should also work with thicker materials, leaving a score mark to cut along. This should work much better than free-hand cutting.
Materials
All you really need is some cardstock and an exacto knife. Hell, a sheet of cardboard and a box cutter will do, but only if you're tight on time and don't care much for aesthetics.
The most recommended and, unless proven otherwise, best overall thing to have in your arsenal of supplies is a handy-dandy (no, not notebook, though that might be good for preliminary sketches!): X-acto knife. You'll want plenty of replacement blades. For the best results, blade size/shape 11 is the one you'll want to use.
Next, you'll need to choose your second-most important medium: the stencil material itself. The cheapest way to go is cardstock, which you can get in packs of 250 8.5"x11" sheets for smaller projects. While bigger sheets mean more room to cut, smaller sheets provide portability, easier organization, and somewhat discreet methods of application, all things you'll want to consider. Other mediums include: acetate (overhead projection sheets and beyond), mylar, cardboard, paper (unrecommended), plastic, donut boxes, paper bags... The absolute best method is precision-cut steel or aluminum sheet. It is the easiest to clean, transport, and maintain, our method is an easy process requiring a paint mask with the design scratched into it, a saltwater basin, and electricity. see Means of Production#Precision cutting. Rigid templates are generally much better as they are easier to secure etc.
Finally, you'll need to select your method of putting up the stencil. There are lots of things to consider with this, as well. Some options include: chalk and spray-adhesive, paint and paintbrush/paintroller, spraypaint, dirt, window-etching solution.
Application
If you are applying stencils in public places, think carefully about placement; will you be easily seen placing it? Will it be seen easily by people? Materials to bring with you when placing; The mask Gloves A cloth Masking tape
The application is pretty simple, put on your gloves and tape up your mask on the place where it'll be, then start painting! Try to get even coating, and don't spill over the carboard too much painting the surrounding area. Leave it for a minute or two if you can to let any drips fall down/onto the template, then take it off your surface, wipe it clean/dry with the cloth and leave.
Stencilling Warning
There is a very real danger that your stencil work may get spotted by the ArtCorp world and elevated by them into their holy money making 'art world'. BE VERY CAREFUL this does not happen to you. It happened to a friend of mind and he is now completely beyond any kind of help.
