Stencils for Watercolor Delight or the Paints of Your Choice

Greetings! There is plenty of art to see in this post because Dave Daniels, aka Mr. Watercolor, is sharing his inspiration as well as techniques.

Remember, no matter if you call these "stencils" or "masks" the white part is the mylar and the black part is where the paint goes. 

Large 9" x 12" or small 6" x 6" designs available.

Rooted in Nature: Butterflies

The Rooted in Nature Butterflies Mask is a combination of many butterflies and flowers. Just when you think you are sure what you are looking at, your vision shifts, and you see something completely different.

This was a new technique for Dave. He placed the mask on card stock, and spread “light dimensional ground” (a Golden product) through the mask openings with a palette knife. When the ground was dry, he flooded the surface with watercolor. after the watercolor dried, he lightly sanded the surface, revealing the image.

Dave used Izink Ice (by Seth Apter). He applied the paint with a palette knife through the openings in the mask, then turned the mask 180 degrees and again applied paint with a palette knife creating a double exposure.

Rooted in Nature: Caladium

The intricate patterns on the Caladium leaves have always fascinated Dave. Not quite random, not entirely predictable. He captured the delicate nature of these intricate patterns in this Rooted in Nature Caladium Mask.

This was another new technique for Dave. He placed the mask on Yupo paper and sprayed it with clear water. He then grated watercolor crayons using a “micro grater” (kitchen utensil) into the openings of the mask.

Dave applied Izink Ice paint with a soft sponge roller through the openings in the mask.

Rooted in Nature: Begonia

Big bold and very structured. This begonia caught stencil designer Dave's eye because of its repetition of bold patterns. Rooted in Nature Begonia Mask is ready for your watercolors.

Using a natural sponge, Dave stamped acrylic paint through the openings of the mask.

Dave placed the mask on Yupo paper, sprayed it with clear water then dropped watercolor paint into the opening of the mask. 

An option with these stencil-masks: You can cut off the border. It is totally a matter of preference. Keep in mind that cutting off the border will make the design bit more delicate to use and to store.

Rooted in Nature: Monarchs

In this Rooted in Nature Monarch Mask, Dave tried to capture the thousands of upon thousands of Monarch Butterflies that migrate each year. Separately they are beautiful, but collectively they create textures and beautiful patterns. 

Using a brayer, Dave rolled Izink Ice directly onto the mask placed on watercolor paper making a print.

Dave placed the mask on 140lb watercolor paper and sprayed it with clear water. He dropped watercolors into the opening of the mask.

 

Rooted in Nature: Coleus

A coleus plant grows just outside Dave's studio window. A recent black and white photograph of the plant revealed the beautiful symmetry of its leaves and inspired him to design inspired this Rooted in Nature Coleus Mask.

Dave used a soft sponge roller filled with acrylic paint over the mask.

Dave placed the mask on Yupo paper, sprayed it with clear water. He dropped watercolors in the mask openings and allowed the colors to mingle.

Rooted in Nature: Window

Are we looking in or looking out through the window? You are probably familiar with this everyday scene. The combination of architecture and organic plants makes a great mix of shapes in this Rooted in Nature Window Mask.

As mentioned earlier, whether you call it a "stencil" or "mask" the white part is the mylar and the black part is where the paint goes. 

Dave placed the on Yupo paper and sprayed it with clear water. He then graded watercolor crayons using a “micro grater” (kitchen utensil) into the openings of the mask.

Dave placed the mask on card stock, and with a palette knife, spread “light dimensional ground” (a Golden product) through the mask openings. When the ground was dry, Dave flooded the surface with watercolor. After everything was dry, he lightly sanded the surface, revealing the image.

Butterfly Window (the painting at the beginning of this post and the Two Crows painting (below) were created using several different stencils. 

1. Place the masks on Yupo paper and pour liquid watercolor though the openings. 
2. Wipe out the butterfly shape and repaint. (Yupo paper is a synthetic paper, actually, it is plastic. You can remove the paint completely by wiping it with a wet sponge.) 
3. Make a butterfly stencil out of cardboard. 
4. Place it over the now dry stencil painting.
5. Wipe it clean and sponge “white absorbent ground” through the opening. 
6. Remove the cardboard and let dry.
7. Paint the butterfly.

Dave used a similar technique for Two Crows.

The branches upon which the hand-painted crows are perched were created using frisket. Here is an example of frisket branches:

In love with Dave's Rooted in Nature series? The entire collection is available from StencilGirl.