Handmade Stencils

Living in the DC metro area, I try to take advantage of the museums, classes and other art-related stuff near me.  During a mixed media class, the teacher invited us to use some of her handmade stencils, cut from overhead transparency pages.

Handmade stencil traced onto overhead transparency.

Cool idea, right? But….overhead transparencies? Where on earth would I get those?

Lo and behold, I found not one, but two full boxes of overhead transparency sheets at local thrift stores. Who says making sacrifices to the Thrift Gods is a waste of time?!

Using magazines as a source and a permanent marker, I traced a variety of images - from buildings to birds - then decided to try cutting out the simplest one with a craft knife. Harder. Than. It. Looks.

If you decide to try this and are not an expert with a craft knife or tiny scissors, definitely start with a large, basic image without a lot of small details.  (I have yet to find the courage to start cutting out the feathered bird….)

Cursing over, I had to decide what to actually do with it.

I decided to flip through my mixed-media notebooks. Since I dislike wasting any art materials, I usually have some pages where I’ve smeared leftover paint or other media for just this kind of project. I “auditioned” the template against several different pages before picking one.  In this case, I traced the image, then flipped it over and traced it again, trying to create a “corner” of the building and some dimension.

After a lot more auditioning of papers and random material on my desk, I added gelli-printed papers to emphasize the sight lines – have I mentioned that creating depth is a challenge for me?

Then I used colored pencils to try and add more depth (self-taught artist, here) by giving the arches shadows, creating a roof, “cracks” in the walls, etc. With moderate success, I’d say. Obviously, that corner nearest the viewer is hardly structurally sound, but whatever.

As an experiment, it was fun. And a way to use up paper scraps. It will never be “finished,” but I’m just happy I figured out a way to re-purpose these leftover-paint-pages and gelli-prints, plus keep hundreds of transparency sheets out of the landfill for a while longer.

Mixed media collage using handmade stencil twice - once forward and again in reverse.