Be Painterly or Artsy with new Spring Stencils: Bunnies and Ewes

The most wonderful thing about these stencils is no matter what painting skillset you possess they give you a foundation from which to launch.

And hey, if you can't take advantage of springtime out of doors, the paints in your indoor art space are calling :)

Two sheep and four large rabbits were part of Lanie Frick's childhood menagerie. 

Lambs & Ewes

 

The sheep liked to follow Lanie around the farm. Sometimes they would jump and twist and take off in a bouncing run. When she would let the rabbits out of their cages into their grass pen they could act so wildly silly and put on a funny show.  

Bunnies Jump and Bunny Face

Lanie says, "I guess that’s why at times my work is realistic and then there are moments when I get a wild hair and create something humorous. The realistic designs bring peace and sincerity to a creative piece. The whimsical designs express the exuberant moments any of us can have. The large open body shapes are for you to have creative fun. Enjoy!"

Spring Ewe

Tip: Stencils with lots of empty space are perfect for layering another stencil with a pattern underneath!

Whimsey Ewes

Are you ready to jump? These bunnies have not forgotten to exercise!

Bunnies in Motion

Four Bunnies in Motion

Get painterly with your stencils!

Lanie's stencil designs include horses and goats! Be painterly or artsy. Check them all out here and build your own farm :)

Creating with Springtime Stencils

Hi friends! I’m Debi Adams and I’m happy to have you joining me here today at StencilGirl. Been busy in my workshop messing up my workspace, as usual. It’s been said that “creative people are rarely tidy” and I do my best to keep up my end of the bargain. So what’s new? Well let’s see. I never like to stay inside the creative lines and this post is no exception. With Easter and spring here I thought I would make something seasonal so I'm stepping away from the abstract... just for today. 

                                                  

This fun little tag makes a great table decor, package topper or gift tag. Actually, it could be a card front too! It was simple to create and very different from my normal approach to stencils. It’s a passion of mine to showcase the bandwidth of stencils and art supplies in general, because they really have so many possibilities. I love digging in, "exploring" and trying out new techniques. To get started, I began with a tag and adhered torn paper to the top and bottom using gel medium. In the middle I adhered a page out of book that was a nest with eggs. (Failed to take a picture of it before adding all the other doo-dahs. Just a tad too excited I suppose. Hmmm, wonder if I was the kid in the class that got a head of the teacher? Lol.)

I then applied a light coat of gesso over the top of all of it. When that dried, I applied the Scattered Bunnies, Birds and Blooms stencil by Margaret Peot to the tag using texture paste. This is probably one of my favorite applications because I love adding dimension to my art. Once dry, I was ready for the magic of watercolors to take over. (Another favorite art form!) I used a water brush and my favorite watercolors on top.  Distress inks can work as watercolors too.  Make sure to add touches of color to the background.  It really makes a difference. 

Adding details by writing "chicken scratch" to the base with a thin, black pen helps to make a great background filler or as a hidden message. 

I traced the bunny onto watercolor paper with the black pen and used the “messy” watercoloring approach to color him in. I cut him out and adhered him to the tag using foam dots.  

And that was it. I love that stencils make you look like you can really draw :). And really, you got talent! It’s just learning how to tap into it.

Here are a few other projects I was working on with this stencil. Once I got on a roll, I couldn’t stop. These will eventually be cards.

 

Again, like the bunny, I traced out the images and then watercolored them.  I love when the colors go out of bounds.  Kinda rebellious like that :).   

Using  distress inks and water for my background is always fun.   Arches watercolor paper was used for the substrate then texture paste was applied to the top of the spring stencils. 

Sometimes not having a background at all works too!  The watercolored, texture-pasted images really pop on this kraft-colored card base.  (Hmmm, now I'm thinking a chocolate brown base would have been oh so lovely because anything and chocolate is fantastic!) I'm sure you get the idea. 

Well that's it.  Hope you enjoyed a bit of this and that and you learned something new.  And btw... welcome Spring!

XO,

Debi

debi-adams.com

Supplies needed for the tag:

Scattered Bunnies, Blooms and Birds Stencil by Margaret Peot for StencilGirl

*Tag

*Ephemera Paper

*Gel Medium

*White Gesso

*Texture Paste

*Watercolors of your Choice

*Waterbrush

*Fine Point,  Permanent Black Ink Pen

*Watercolor Paper for Bunny

*Scissors

*Foam Dot