Using stencils to mask abstract backgrounds

Hi All, 

Niamh here from the bottom of the world! I have been playing around with mark making and abstract backgrounds for as long as I remember - its one of my favourite ways to practice making art. But occasionally it doesn't always look great! This is a brilliant way to rescue a page/background or something you are not a fan of easily. 

To start with, create a background, any will do (watch the video below to see how I created this one). I would highly suggest though that to do this technique you use permanent mediums (acrylic paints, permanent inks, markers, collage etc). If you do use something that is water reactive - seal it first with a spray varnish or coat of gel medium. 

To create this effect, I choose an open, organic shaped stencil that was easy to trace around. I deliberately only drew around the larger spaces, leaving the small triangular spaces as areas I would paint in. I then removed the stencil and painted in the gaps with white gesso. This wasn't painted thickly, so you can still see the colours through some areas, but I liked this effect. You can always add more coats if you want a pure colour. 

I often get asked - why spend so much time on the background if you are going to paint over it. And I get it - I really liked the background I made. To quiet that thought, I often take a photo of the background before I do the masking, so I can print it out again in the future to use as collage fodder or inspiration for another day. By using the stencil over the top though, I can create little frames and snippets of colours and marks - and this gives the piece an overall focus. 

To sharpen that, I draw around the open spaces with a black stabilo all pencil and smudge it with my fingers to add a shadowed effect to the frames. I then stencilled out a quote from the rainbow quotes stencil and stapled it to the page to complete it. 

I hope you have a go at masking with your stencils - it will completely change the way you look at them in the future!

Here is a video with the step by step process for you to follow:

Here is a link to the stencils I used on this page:

Rainbow Quotes

Pebble Path

Happy Creating,

Niamh

Say Hello to Pam Beer, Our Newest StencilGirl® Designer!

Pam's first collection for StencilGirl® Products is entitled, "Words are not Enough."  The collection consists of 2 large 9x12 stencils.  L9464 contains twelve symbols grouped together encompassing the thoughts of our organic world while L965 has twenty-eight symbols grouped together to represent an internal and very personal language that only our spirit can comprehend. 

L964

L965

About Pam

Pam's artistic journey has been a winding path, full of unexpected twists and turns. As a creative personality growing up in a world that demanded survival over self-expression, she learned to keep her artistic passions hidden away. It wasn't until she found herself working in a corporate technical role that she rediscovered the joy of visual art, using it as a way to relieve stress and rediscover her true self.

 

For years, Pam's career demanded more process and analytical activity than creativity, leaving her feeling unfulfilled and disconnected from her artistic spirit. But when her career came to an end, she knew it was time to rebuild and seek spiritual wholeness and wellness. 

 

Painting became her refuge, a way to remove the chaos of life and tease out a sense of hope through beauty and visual rendering.

 

Pam's journey as an artist has been one of exploration and discovery. She began working in watercolor, then moved to acrylic, and eventually found her true voice in oil and cold wax medium. It wasn't until she embraced abstraction and painting how something feels, rather than how it appears, that her work truly began to blossom.

 

Each of Pam's abstract works is a journey in itself, beginning with wild, chaotic marks that are eventually tamed by a lovingly constructed story of internal peace and hope. Layers of paint and effort reveal bursts of life with color and calmness, always with just the right tension to keep the work interesting.

 

Pam's tools of choice are silicone scrapers, squeegees, and soft brayers, which allow her to achieve unique color shifts and create passages of both opacity and transparency. Her custom-made birchwood panels provide the perfect canvas for her work, allowing her to express her innermost stories in a way that is both beautiful and meaningful.

 

Through her art, Pam seeks to capture the beauty and joy of life, while also exploring the deeper spiritual dimensions of our faith that underlie our existence. 

 

Her work is a testament to the power of creativity to heal, transform, and inspire, and a reminder that even in the midst of chaos and uncertainty, there is always hope.

Welcome Judy Woods, Our Newest Stencil Designer!

Judy combines collage, mixed media, and acrylic paint and works on paper, canvas, and wood panels. She builds her work in layers to create depth and texture and is inspired by the creative process of embarking on a wonderful journey full of surprises and discoveries. Every painting is a unique puzzle to be created and then untangled.

Shapely Details (G031)

A large stencil, useful for layering with abstract art in mind. Build your painting with unique shapes carefully crafted to maximize contrast and opposites so that your work offers surprising details as well as depth in layers.

Love That Curve (G032)

A large stencil with shapes that sit the curve next to the straight edge. This is a fundamental contrast to exploit differences in your painting as we see in 1950s Design. Build your painting in layers to create depth and create rhythm through repetition.

Shapes & Tabs (G033)

A large stencil that plays with positive and negative shapes and is reminiscent of snap-off pieces found in board games or models popular in the 60s and 70s. Use these shapes to build layers in your painting to create surprises and interesting edges alongside larger forms.

More About Judy

Judy taught Art in Secondary Schools for 16 years before establishing herself as an Artist painting intuitively and producing abstract paintings. Within the first three years of working full-time on her Art, she won several National painting awards in her homeland New Zealand, as well as being a finalist in international juried shows and winning 1st Place in an International online show. She exhibits both in New Zealand and Internationally and teaches painting online through her Judy Woods Art stARTs mentorship program.

Judy's stencils are available now at stencilgirlproducts.com