Creating More Stenciled Grungy Papers!

Hello Friends! Nicole back with another grungy paper tutorial, this one a bit bittersweet.

After three incredible years with the Creative Team, this is my final post. It has been a true honor to do what I love for StencilGirl®! I have met so many of YOU creatives who also love stencils, and there is nothing better than inspiring you to create and use those stencils!

This is not a forever goodbye. I'm looking forward to focussing my time on designing more stencils for StencilGirl® and sharing my creations, as always, over on Instagram and my YouTube channel. And, you never know when I might make a surprise appearance here! 

With that, I wanted to leave you with one more grungy paper tutorial! I gathered a handful of 9x12 stencils that I haven't had a chance to play with along with my favorite Payne's gray and just played.

And, oh how I needed to play!

To begin, I always lightly gesso my papers. This helps add some integrity to older papers and allows the paint and water to move more easily on the page.

The process is quick, and it doesn't matter if entire page is perfectly covered. My process varies each time, but this session I was using up some gesso that I had turned over like ketchup to get the last bits out! I sprayed my papers with water and added gesso with my brush.

 

I’m using papers from an old ledger, but any papers will work! Old book pages are fun, too. Just make sure they aren't too thin and brittle. Ledgers aren’t always easy to find, so if you want to add that fun handwriting layer, you could always stamp or scribble all over paper before stenciling.

Creating the Papers 

Once all the gessoed pages were dry, I started making my papers. The general process is the same each time, but I find that often I get a little more creative and adventurous as the playtime goes on. Oftentimes, I don't want to stop!

I simply use an applicator with paint through the stencil. Then, I add water + watered down paint and scruff up the stenciled image to distress it. 

One thing I always keep in mind, is that I'm creating moments. It's not important to me that the entire paper is a work of art! I like to have variations on each page that I can use in different ways as needed for collage, backgrounds, journals, and more.

My first couple papers were simple, and then I changed it up a bit.

Urban Rhythm Matrix

After adding the Payne's gray through the stencil, I traced around all the circle shapes with my stabilo all in graphite and black and then activated it with water. I put the paper aside and moved on, but when I was flipping through the papers at the end, I thought it needed something else. So, I added a bunch of walnut ink. 

Here's what it looked like before the walnut ink:

Fade Horizontal Stencil

For this one, I tried to create an ombre effect, keeping the paint darker to the left and fading it to the right. When I was done stenciling, I added quite a bit of watered down paint to the left side and tilted the paper for drips.

Single Cross Mini

Sometimes, I like to play with the stencil more than one way. For the first one I stenciled here and there with Payne's gray and then added raw umber to fill in the gaps. On the second paper, I used mostly raw umber and watered down Payne's gray for contrast.

Shape Collection

My ledger papers are just a little more narrow than the stencils, which really isn't a problem most of the time. However, for this fun stencil with all the different shapes, it cut some of them off. I didn't let that bother me! Any image, even if partially stenciled, can find its way into collage!

I stenciled the first paper "as is" through the stencil. I used both Payne's gray and raw umber.

For the second one, I repeated some of my favorite shapes. In doing this, I fell in love with the image (and how I distressed it) of the 3 leaf-like shapes cut out from the rectangles. So, I played with that image on its own. I cannot wait to play with this more and add it to future artwork. Such a great discovery through my playtime!

If you've never played with Payne's gray + raw umber, I highly recommend you do! They create the most wonderful charcoal-black color when they mingle together.

Boro on Steroids I

Since this stencil has so many wonderful images, I decided to play with each one separately. In sticking with my purpose of playing with stencils I had not yet, I didn't use the chevron part as I had used that one previously on a journal page.

For the jelly-bean like shapes, I originally only stenciled them in Payne's gray on one side with the intention of using raw umber on the other...but then I ended up just layering both for more interest! 

After the circle shapes were dry, I traced around them loosing with the stabilo all in graphite.

I just used Payne's gray in the cross-like shapes and added watered-down raw umber with it. I liked stenciling it in two different directions for completely different looks.

Soulful Scribbles Dots Dash

At this point, my water and sponges were getting a bit dingy, so I changed out the water and sponges to start fresh. I often change them out a couple times during my play sessions.

Since this stencil is so detailed, I kept the grungy play pretty simple, except instead of raw umber, I added walnut ink.

I cleaned off some of the extra puddles with a blank ledger sheet that I used for the next stencil.

Stitch ATC

For my final stencil, I played much like I did with the other patterned stencils above. I enjoyed making larger patterns with a couple of my favorites.

I also used walnut ink on this one, which creates a similar charcoal-black color like the raw umber when mingled with the Payne's gray.

Phew! That was a lot of amazing playtime, and I did not want to stop! I had so much fun making these papers and discovering amazing shapes and patterns in these stencils.

You can watch the grungy paper play in action in the video below:

Links to my other grungy paper/technique tutorials:

• Waking up Creativity with Stenciled Papers
• Simple Fall Inspired Cards
• Creative Play and Collage with Stencils
• More Grungy Stenciled Papers
• Creative Play in a Folded Journal
• Creating Grungy Backgrounds with Stencils: a Stencil School Video featuring me

Thank You!

As I close out this blog and season, I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank you for all your kindness. I also want to thank the team at StencilGirl® for this amazing opportunity. It has been such a fun few years playing with these stencils.

I hope you create some grungy papers soon!

-Nicole

Connect with me on

• Instagram
• YouTube
• My website

Stencils

Urban Rhythm Matrix

Fade Horizontal Stencil

Single Cross Mini

Shape Collection

Boro on Steroids I

Soulful Scribbles Dots Dash

Stitch ATC

Supplies:

• Gesso
• Vintage book and ledger papers, ephemera
• Matte medium
• Acrylic Paint (I used Golden SoFlat Payne's gray & raw umber)
• Round applicator
• Walnut Ink
• Stabilo all in graphite & black