Creating Complex Spraypaint Stencils by Hand

Step 2 Digital Tweaks

Once you have your image, bring it into an image editing program of your choice. It doesn't need to be Photoshop, anything with a Brightness and Contrast adjustment will do. Some people find that using a Photoshop filter is the only way to get their template going, but I prefer a more manual method-- see which you like best and go with it. Here's the way I do it: First, if your image in in color, convert it to grayscale (in Photoshop this is done by selecting Image > Mode > Grayscale). Be sure to save a clean copy first so you can refer to it later. Jack the contrast to 100% (in Photoshop, Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast). Now, adjust the brightness until you get something that looks about how you want your stencil to look. In Photoshop you can use clipping mask adjustment layers to adjust the contrast differently on different elements (there are many Photoshop tutorials on adjustment layers out there, hunt around). For multi-color stencils you simply save a copy and repeat this brightness adjustment until you have distinct plates for each color. You can also vary the brightness for different parts of the image. For example, maybe you're stenciling a picture of a person and find that when you expose the face properly, the detail is lost for the body. The solution here is to create two different guides to work from.

How do you know that you have the right exposure? Well, if the image is coming through, and it looks like it is physically possible to cut, you're there. Like I suggested before, focus on the key details that make the image "read".

If you're an ace illustrator or a longtime stencil fiend, you might find that you can skip this step entirely. After enough stencils you develop an eye for this and can do it with a pen if you need to. This is a very cool thing. Drawing stencil plates by hand from a photo source will impress your friends, but more importantly it's good for you as an artist, because the less married to the digital process you are, the more freedom you have with composition.

Comments

[vrywldr]

where did u get the picture of that building, i want it