3-D Look with Stencil Printing

This artwork may appeal to some, repel others, and make still others want to reach for those 2-color cardboard glasses once handed out at 3-D movies.  I fall into either category 1 or 2.  Not sure yet.

I used two stencils to create this image -- Warped Holes 9, by Lizzie Mayne, and my 9" X 12" Branching Blossoms Silhouette Stencil.

And I used an idea that has been presented by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  I tweaked Julie's process, starting with the same basic steps she did, but then launching into another direction, after asking myself,  "What if ...?"

In going thru the process, I made the happy discovery that Branching Blossoms Silhouette is ideal for this technique because its design automatically divides the image-area into vertical halves.  I took advantage of this by making a shift in hues between the vertical left half and the vertical right half.

I started with a sheet of 140-lb. hot press (smooth) watercolor paper, securing it to my work surface with masking tape and using the same tape to align my Branching Blossoms Silhouette stencil in the center of the paper --

Starting with an Ink Sweeper and ending with a cosmetic sponge, I daubed acrylic paint thru the stencil openings and across the paper, as shown below.

This was what I saw when I lifted the stencil --

Next, I taped Branching Blossoms Silhouette Stencil back onto the paper.  I could have aligned it perfectly with the original print, shown above, but instead, I decided to take a risk and line the stencil up just slightly off-register with the original print.



Above:  Placing the stencil off-register creates these uncovered white areas.

Above:  a close-up of the off-register placement of the stencil over the original print.

Then I taped Lizzie's stencil over mine...



Above:  Lizzie's stencil still bears the multiple colors of acrylic paints from the last project!

Below:  a close-up of Lizzie's stencil over mine.

...and starting applying color thru both stencils, still using the daubing technique with acrylic paints.

My last step was to remove both stencils for the grand unveiling.  And what I saw is the image at the top of this post.

Thanks for visiting here today!  

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here

Unique Art Necklaces by StencilGirl Creative Team member Louise Nelson, Using CLUSTERED LEAVES Stencil

StencilGirl Creative Team member Louise Nelson is a skilled jewelry artist who's made unique and eye-grabbing necklaces, using prints made with my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves --

my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves

Below are three of Louise's photos showing her beautiful, one-of-a kind necklaces --

To see all of Louise's photos and read her step-by-step directions, please visit here.

To keep up with Louise at Instagram, go here.

Thanks for stopping here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

FANTASIA -- and Other 9" x 12" Stencils from StencilGirl

My 9" x 12" stencil Fantasia looks like when you buy it ... 

... but every artist has an individual way of using stencils (as well as every other kind of tool.) 

Above:  Here, I've cut the central part of the stencil free from the edges that it comes with.

Above:  To make this print, I've used the entire stencil.

Above:  I've used a cut-away part of Fantasia with acrylic paint to make the bottom-most layer; over that, I used part of my 9" x 12" stencil Blooming Where Planted.  And, in the lowest one-third part of the image, I've added a print made with Prayer Flags (also 9" x 12".)

Above:  Here, I've used Fantasia over an earlier print that had been made with Wrought Iron Gate, which also measures 9" x 12".

Above:  To make this print, I've used the entire stencil.

Above: Wrought Iron Gate Stencil  (9" x 12")

Blooming Where Planted Stencil (9" x 12")

Prayer Flags Stencil (9" x 12")

Thanks for visiting here today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

One Stencil -- PRAYER FLAGS -- Used Many Eays

One stencil can be used to get a big variety of prints!

My 9" x 12" stencil Prayer Flags, for example ...

Above:   For this print I started with white glossy cardstock; after making an acrylic paint monoprint on it, I used a contrasting color of acrylic paint with the stencil.

Above:  This greeting card started with a print that I cut to size with Fiskars deckle-edged scissors.  After adding the paper to the card with a gluestick, I used heavy gel medium to fasten the heart into place.  To prepare the heart, I'd collaged an older print over a blank wood heart (from a craft store); then I'd trimmed it with fine-detail scissors.

Above: multiple layers of prints on stretched canvas.

Above:  Here, I used the stencil twice, side by side.

Above:  Again, multiple prints were made with the stencil, one atop another.  With each print, I used a different color paint and placed the stencil at a different angle than had been used in the earlier prints.

My 9" x 12" stencil Prayer Flags looks like this in its entirety --

Thank you for visiting here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Gift Bags Decorated with Stencil-Prints!

I've made the happy discovery that plain white gift bags can be bought very cheaply!  If I remember correctly, I found mine at AmazonSmile.com.  But I've also seen them at art/craft stores like Michaels.

Below are three of the prints I've made on pages of old encyclopedias.  I chose pages with botanical illustrations so that there would be some rhyme-and-reason to the finished look.  To make these three prints, I used my 6" x 6" Ginkgo stencil.

After the prints dried, I cut them out, then used a gluestick to add them to both sides of the gift bags.  I added other prints as well, as shown below ...

Above:  Another 6" x 6" stencil, Swatton Flowers Version 1, was used to make this print.

Above:  Silhouette of a Wildflower Bouquet Stencil (also 6" x 6") was used to make this print.

Above:  This print was made with 9' x 12" Thistles Stencil, placed over a print originally made with 9" x 12" Fantasia Stencil and 6" x 6" Tiger Lily stencil.  These details can be better seen if you click on this image to enlarge it.

My full line of stencils, including ones used today, are on StencilGirl.com pages that start here.

My sincere thanks for your taking time to stop by this blog today!

Coming Sept. 1 - 3 -- 2018 Canterbury Art Show, Rumson, NJ

Sept. 1- 3 are the dates of this year's Canterbury Art Show in Rumson, NJ, on the scenic and tidal Shrewsbury River.

Here is the ad I created for the 2018 program for this art show --

You can click on the above image to enlarge it.

This year I opted for a half-page ad because I had added several more stencils to this graphic; and I wanted the smaller details to show.

Thanks for stopping by here today!

Stencil-Lovers Can Learn New Tricks from Artist Darlene Olivia McElroy

http://darleneoliviamcelroy.com/CrazyStencilTechniques_Artisan.pdf -- created by artist Darlene Olivia McElroy -- is a wonderful collection of stencil-using techniques.  I thought I'd seen everything and tried everything with stencils, but she bowled me over right away with her first art-making tip.  I can't wait to try it!

Darlene has honored me by including one of my 9" x 12" stencils in her art-making toolbox -- 9" x 12" Nosegay Stencil.  In its entirety, the stencil looks like this ....

The art samples below are ones I created before reading this excellent resource provided by Darlene....

In each of today's three examples, the background has been created with another 9" x 12" stencil of mine, Fantasia.  A full-size print made with this stencil is below --

Thanks for visiting my blog today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

Artist Marsha Valk & CLUSTERED LEAVES Stencil & Brand-New Columnist at StencilGirl Talk!

Artist Marsha Valk has been featured in an earlier blog post; at that time, she delighted me with the way she had used, among other StencilGirl stencils, my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves, with bright pink paint in developing this beautiful accordion-fold book.  With a print made using this stencil, she created a circular frame for "The moon was yellow and the night was young" -- 

Marsha Valk was recently selected by MaryBeth Shaw as one of the brand-new StencilGirl Columnists!  You can check out all the details here.

My stencil Clustered Leaves looks like this in its entirety --

Thanks for taking time to stop by today!  To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

THISTLE & SMALL THISTLES Stencils

Earlier posts that have followed StencilGirl's April 25 new stencil release have shown my series of stretched canvases painted with the help of my 6" x 6" stencil Small Thistles ...

 ... well as my 9" x 12" stencil Thistle ...

Today's post features the last painting in the series.  It's appeared here before, but at that time, the painting was still in progress.

You can click on the above image to enlarge it and better see details.

In creating the flowers in the upper left, I used the 9" x 12" stencil 
Thistle -- placing it on the canvas three separate times, to bring the stems together at the bottom.  

For the large central flower -- outlined in yellow spray paint -- I used the 6" x 6" Small Thistles stencil as well as a paper mask (drawn by hand) that I added below the central flower to give it more length. 

Thanks for visiting here today!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please start here.

A How-to Video by Sherry Canino, CLUSTERED LEAVES Stencil and a Gelli Plate

Here's a video done by Sherry Canino using my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves--

https://youtu.be/iDf2YSolNzk

If visiting upstate NY in the Finger Lakes area, be sure to stop in at Canino's Artistic Cafe! -- 106 Metropolitan Pk. Drive, Liverpool, NY.

You can keep up with Sherry online here.

Clustered Leaves Stencil looks like this --

To scroll thru the pages of all my StencilGirl stencils, please start on this page.

Thanks for stopping by at my blog today!

Artist Kate Palmer does Fabulous Art-making with 4" x 4" Stencil PALM FRONDS SILHOUETTE MINI.

Using this link, you can travel back in time to a now-ended blog hop that featured a full line-up of artists, including Kate Palmer.  Kate delighted me by using one of my stencils -- 4" x 4" Palm Fronds Silhouette Mini, -- along with Lindy's art-making powders and sprays.  (In Kate's top photo below, you can also see her using the Colorbox Stylus Tool for pressing color thru stencil openings -- in this way, she gets a print with all the fine details of the stencil.)   Kate's results were breathtaking!

Click here to see Kate Palmer's step-by-step demo-video.

Many thanks to Kate!  And to you my blog readers!

To scroll thru the pages of my StencilGirl stencils, please visit here.

To keep current on all upcoming StencilGirl blog hops and their giveaways, check here. 

Terry O'Neill's Beautiful Gift-Bags made with CLUSTERED LEAVES and THISTLES Stencils!

Time and again, I'm amazed at the ingenuity of artists who bring stencil-use into new territories.  

Today's examples come from the talented hands of Terry O'Neill, who used several StencilGirl stencils in creating these gorgeous gift-bags with matching tags.  I'm delighted that among the others stencils, she included two of mine -- 

Clicking on the image above, you can better see details.  For the green background of the gift-bag on the far right, Terry used my 9" x 12" stencil Clustered Leaves. 

Above:  Terry used my 9" x 12" stencil Thistles to create the main image on this equally gorgeous gift-bag.

I too have used stencil-art to decorate gift-bags -- but I've had lacked the courage to stencil directly onto the bags themselves!

Thanks, Terry O'Neill, for allowing me to show your artwork here!

And thank you, everyone who loaned the time to see this post today.

To scroll thru my full line of StencilGirl.com stencils, please start on this page.  

Artist Sherry Canino with 6"x6" Stencil SWATTON FLOWERS VERSION 1

Want a treat?  You can visit artist Sherry Canino here and here.

At the first stop above, StencilGirl Talk blog, you can watch Sherry's how-to video, made when she was creating this two-page spread in an art journal --

Among other StencilGirl stencils, Sherry chose to use the very first of many flower stencils that I've designed -- my 6"x 6" stencil Swatton Flowers Version 1.  

The stencil itself looks like this --

If visiting upstate NY in the Finger Lakes area, be sure to stop in at Canino's Artistic Cafe! -- 106 Metropolitan Pk. Drive, Liverpool, NY.

Thanks for stopping by at my blog today!

To see my full line of stencils, please visit here.