Stencil for spray painting - quick and fun

I'll show a fast and fun way to take scraps of cardboard / duct tape / random items / etc. to make a quick stencil. With a little creativity, being light on the first spray or so, and doing it in a wind-free spot, you can make sharp stencils for nothing. Easy to leap from this idea to multi-layered stencils with different colors.

I've spray paint stenciled clothes for a while, and have a few shirts that I spray painted about 7 years ago that still hold strong. After a good hanging out to get the fumes out and a run through a washer, it's all ready to wear.

I'm planning on doing some more thorough experiments and will share notes as I go.

Step 1: Make a stencil...

So if you want to spray paint a stencil a first thought might be that whatever you use for the stencil has to be waterproof/heavyduty/thick/whathaveyou. It doesn't have to be. I've used light printer paper and cut it out with an exacto to make feathers for a griffin design and that made many sprays.

The trick is to go very light with the first spray you do. If you spray a thin even coat on your paper, and let it dry, then repeat, ie, build up slowly, you get a waterproof coating on your stencil paper. If you spray too hard you can soak or sog it down and it either gunks up or rips and falls apart.

I made some stencils on a whim after pulling a cardboard donut out of a 2gal glass bottle I bought and thinking it would be a nice frame for a stencil.

The other bits are just duct tape and printer paper cut after being folder over 2wice and cut out with scissors (I reinforced their bottom with ducttape).

Comments

[MaggithaMay]

I've found that rubber cement works really well for holding down the stencil. It makes a really crisp outline, it's really easy to pull the stencil off when you're done, and the glue rubs right off the fabric.

[cowscankill]

Hmm... seems like it would be hard to do for a complex design, but then again you would need to cut out the complex design from any stencil lol.

[uguy]

2gal o booch?

[lazlow69]

booch as in kombucha. I always call it booch, like hooch but without the badness.

[FreshPineSent]

What kind of spray paint did you use?

[lazlow69]

Anything I had! I've used enamel, although that can be a bit stiff, but I think basic latex cheapo spraypaint has worked quite well for me and lasts a while. I've got that stencil on a pair of overalls that get a ton of use and it's still strong and clear. Good luck!

[DuctTapeRules!]

I've used this technique before, turned out pretty good. Nice 'ible!