How To Create Beautiful Art With Stencils
It’s easier than you think.
Stencilling is a simple method of transferring a design using a cut-out shape onto a surface. The word stencil means the outline of an image. Using stencils is a fast and efficient way to apply an image or pattern directly onto a canvas for a mixed media painting, or onto a page in an art journal.
The Chinese were the first to develop paper-based stencils, around 105AD, and they used the invention to enhance their printing techniques. Thanks to the trade routes from the East, stencilling spread to Europe; then immigrants carried the use of stencilling with them to the New World where techniques developed, and new styles emerged.
Stencils have been used as decoration in the home, on furniture and in works of art. With today’s technology, stencils are simple to produce using laser-cut Mylar, and they can be purchased relatively inexpensively online or from art and craft stores.
The available images and patterns are endless, and depending on what particular style is in fashion, stencils can reproduce designs from the Renaissance, Victorian and Art Deco periods. Any simplified image can…
