The earliest examples of stenciling are found in Paleolithic cave paintings dating from as early as 30,000 BC to 9,000 BC. Some of the first stencils were cut from leaves. The Fiji Island natives traditionally used bamboo and banana leaves to make their stencils. They cut holes in the leaves and forced vegetable dyes through the leaf openings onto their bark cloth or "Tapa". The Eskimos of Baffin Island are said to have used dried sealskin but unfortunately nothing remains of these early stencils as they were made from perishable materials. Stenciling has been around for ages, it is a amazing skill and talent that a lot of people need to learn to respect.
~Stenciling is a Art and a Skill~
I have heard people say when looking at a stenciled piece of art work "oh it's just a stencil". A lot of the time this person has never even tried making a stencil and has no idea the skill that it takes to make a effective design using a stencil. Now yes, like all art there is bad stencils and great stencils but in any regard stenciling is a art and a skill. When I make a stencil I take a image, lets say of a face. I draw this image out on regular paper. I draw the shadows of the the image because this is what is going to make the image after it has been cut. You have to draw the image in a way that you are defining the image by using the shadows and simple line work to the best of your ability. You also have to make sure you draw it in a way that will allow all the pieces to stay intact so you won't have chucks of your design falling out when you cut it. After I draw it I take my drawing and I have it laminated at kinkos or office max. I do this because it will help preserve the life of the stencil and the laminate gives a great stiff surface that's flat when you spray it. Once laminated you have to cut it out with a xacto blade. This is why it is very important to make sure your elements of your design is going to stay intact. Now that you have a stencil cut, go and try it out. Have fun!
~The Reason Why I Laminate My Stencils~
When I make a stencil I like to laminate it. I laminate it for a few reasons.
1. It helps preserver the life of the stencil. I have stencils that I have used 100s of times and they are still giving me clean lines and great art.
2. The laminate helps keep the stencil stiff and flat. The more stiff and more flat the stencil the cleaner the image is going to come out after you stencil it.
3. After using the stencil 100s of times you can put the stencil in the refrigerator over night. When you pull it out you can crack off the layers of paint and return the stencil almost back to it's original life. Thats if the layers of paint are spray paint.
4. If the stencil is laminated then you can make bleach stencils on shirts. Get dark colored shirts or any fabric for that matter. Go outside on a sunny day, fill a spray bottle up with 50% bleach 50% water. Lay the stencil down on the shirt as long as it's flat. Spray the the bleach. Allow to dry. Remove stencil, if everything worked out you should have a new t-shirt with your own design on it.
Stencil art is a very powerful medium. It is powerful because once you have the stencil cut you can make a painting in a matter or minutes. As a Guerilla artist taking your art to the street is a powerful way to get your art seen and noticed. Using strong stenciled imagery you can get your logo, message, image and stye up on city walls in a very fast way. Doing stencils on city walls is as illegal as graffiti. To be a artist is to be a rebel by nature. Art is a personal expression and if it looks good, then it looks good. My motto is: no schools, private homes, churches, private business, existing murals and city artwork but corporate advertising, freeway structures, highways, traffic signs are all free game. Like I said it is illegal so keep this in mind if you're thinking of becoming a Guerilla artist. It is also a way for artists to claim back public domain and promote freedom of expression.
~When I Realized I need to make Stencils~
I realized I needed to make stencils at my first Phoenix Art walk. It was my friend and I. It was about four years ago, we were set up on the side of the street. Back before the politics of the city got involved vendors could set up anywhere pretty much. My friend had stencils, small elemental designs of hawks, butterflies, sea creatures placed on a elemental background. He was selling them like crazy, $20, $30 each. I had a small set up with my icons, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Audrey Hepburn to name a few. I was selling zero.
I was out of the range of the market of the buyers there. What should I do I thought? Earlier that week I had found three pallets of 8 in x 11inch scrap pieces of wood near a dumpster behind a industrial building. I talked to the owner and he let me have them. I came home after first friday thinking and starring at all the wood scraps. Finally it came to me. I love painting icons, but I need to make them more affordable to the buyers on the street. So I decided to make stencils of my favorite icons and use the the scraps of wood to paint them on! It was a success. I originally had 2000 pieces of scrap wood. Since then I have painted and sold pretty much all of the original 2000 set by using stencils on them. After the scraps of wood were gone I would go to Home Depot and buy plywood and cut it down to size and then nail a small backing on the back. I have further refined the process. Now I take wood door skin, cut it down to size, make 1 inch siding/framing around the door skin so it is a 1 inch shallow box. I spray my stencils on those now. I have sold thousands of them from $20-$40 price range all from that first idea of stenciling.
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