Customised Stencils

Time for another new challenge theme!

This months challenge for Art Quest is 'Customised Stencils'

For this challenge I want you to think about cutting and making your own stencil from scratch.

Before you begin your going to need some kind of image to make into a stencil - you could doodle or draw something and make a stencil from your own drawings. You could even use clip art images if your not very good at doodling - some clip art is available in silhouette form already if you wanted to cheat a little :) Why not try using large printed letters or even words to create unique wordy stencils in a nice bold font.

Once you've decided on the image your going to use; print it and cut it out and then transfer the image outline onto either a sheet of acetate or a sturdy sheet of card. For acetate you can trace the image through the plastic with a permanent marker pen. On card you'll need to draw round the image with a pencil onto the card.

Tip: When making stencils I like to use sturdy recyled food packaging boxes for this because they are usually colour printed and laminated on one side which seems to make the stencils a little sturdier.

Once you've transfered the stencil image you are ready to cut it out! Use a sharp craft knife - prefably with a new blade on a rubber cutting mat and slowly cut out the image to make your own unique customise stencil.

Thats the stencil made - now the fun part!

Make ART!

You can stipple paint using a stippling brush, use oil pastels, use spray inks or even use some thick embossing paste - anything at all! Why not try it all! Experiment and play and have fun and create artwork using your unique customised stencil in your books!

And dont forget to SHARE what you made with us :)

Heres a link to a customised stencil page I made earlier:

http://trishbee.co.uk/?p=405