stencils

Notan is a Japanese term that means light and dark harmony.

It is a way of simplifying the image to only black and white to render the image as black and white shapes. There are no middle values and no color and textures.

I used the threshold feature in photoshop to reduce this photograph of a vine to just the black and white shapes.

This is another photo that was reduce to its light and dark values. This type of image is great for creating emulsion based screens for screen printing. I love to use the EZscreens for small projects.

High contrast photos work well with the threshold feature to create only black and white images, with no gray values. Then we can use the sun to harden the pre-coated screens and it short time have small screens for lots of mixed media projects.

Today I did a paper cutting notan study. I used a quick sketch that I had of a metal leaf sculpture. I drew the interconnected design on a small piece of black paper and then cut all the pieces out. The glued them like a reflection on to a larger piece of white paper.

I like the simple shapes. An I find that the limited black and white makes a strong impact. And it was easier than I thought to cut out and assemble. Try it!

Simple shapes make great stencils for gelatin printmaking too. If you need the long lasting recipe to make the gelatin and glycerin plate, the click here and get the video instructions.

Stencils are one of the main tools that I use when gelatin printing.

I use stencils to:

• block the transfer of ink (masking stencil)
• shape the transfer of ink through holes in the stencil(traditional hole stencil)
• define and transfer ink in the shape of the masking stencil

A few years ago I took a class with Beatrice Coron, a paper cutting artist, who uses Tyvek® a lot. Check out her TED talk.

Since then I have enjoyed using Tyvek® stencils. And I think that the combination of strong Tyvek® stencils and malleable gelatin and glycerin plate allows for some unique mark making.

Get support from an online class. Check out the current offerings on the printmaking workshop page.

As far as printmaking methods go, stencils are probably the easiest to create and use.

1 – Stencils are easy to cut or tear

A stencil could be as easy a torn newsprint to block the transfer of ink on the gelatin plate. Or they could be intricate cut Tyvek.

2 – Stencils can be used alone or combined with other printmaking methods like screen printing or gelatin printmaking

3 – You can use stencils with or without a press

Most of us are not lucky enough to have access to a printing press, so stencil printing is great for the artist with a home studio.

4 – Stencils can be based on skills you already have like photography and drawing

If you want to explore making stencils, then join us get support from an online class. Check out the current offerings on the printmaking workshop page.

I am a big fan of using found objects for new purposes.

Leaves and twigs as masking stencils

Nearly all my stamping and braying tools are found objects.

Most recently I enjoyed learning new ways to cut up and re-combine books and all their parts to make collages.

Think this way makes me see the world in a new way – filled with new FREE art making materials. Another recent repurposing was using Tetra Pak packaging as an etching/collagraph plate.

I discovered that I could use sticky labels as masking stencils. So of course I went to the Dollar Tree Store and got a few different styles of sticky labels to play with.

I love the backing sheet. It creates a strong crisp pattern.

Play with all the parts back and forth and enjoy the lovely impressions.

Want to play with stencils???

Join us in the Make Stencils Workshop – the online art class starts soon. Read all the details on the workshop page.

We will make stencils to be used alone or with other processes like gelatin printing or screen printing. You will start to see stencil making tools in everyday materials.

A stencil is a simplified version of another thing or image. Simplified is not always simple to do.

You need to train your eye to see what is important to the essence of the image and then cut out what is not important.

Often if you can choose a silhouette or shadow image to start with then then deciding what is important is a little easier to see.

Then I use a photo copier or photo editing software to get a just black and white image of shapes.

I wanted to focus on the branches and not the landscape part of the photo above. To make a traditional hole stencil, I built little bridges in the design to make the stencil a little more stable.

I copied the design onto Tyvek® and cut it out. This process just requires patience, practice and a sharp blade.

Then I printed this little card.

I could combine the stencil with other images, and collage materials. This is just the beginning.

You know that I love to print with the gelatin plate. So I created a modified style of stencil that works really well with the gelatin plate.

This stencil does not need all the bridges and is attached to the rectangular border for stability. Beatrice Coron uses this kind of connection to the edge in her work. Check out her TED talk video in this blog post.

I can get 2 different styles of print with this one stencil. First is the shaped impression, see it at the very beginning of this post.

And the second impression is this one here that I call the detailed impression, because it gives you the details of the ink left under the stencil.

If you would like to train your eyes and hands to make stencils from your own photos and images join us in an online workshop.