Stencilling and Stencil Craft by Margaret Peot

I thought I'd take our moose from Monday and do a stencil project.

It also goes nicely with this week's giveaway.

This is Margaret Peot's new book, Stencil Craft.
For those of you new to stencilling it covers everything you need to know....

and for those of you who have been stencilling for awhile it has some new ideas.

I especially like this amalgam composition idea.  Using multiple stencils to build a scene.  I will be using this in future projects.

I also appreciated all the info for stencilling on fabric, something I would like to incorporate more in my textile projects.

If you want a chance at winning this crafty book you need to enter by one of the following:

- leave a comment on this post
- email me directly at thatartistwoman@shaw.ca
- like or comment on this post on my Facebook page

I will make the draw on Sunday Aug 23rd/15.
Canadian or U.S. residents only please.



Back to our stencil project:

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- moose template
- cereal box weight cardboard
- wc paper or heavyweight paper for painting
- disk tempera
- black acrylic or liquid tempera
- round brush
- chalk pastels, oil pastels, or crayons

PROCEDURE:

First we have to create our stencil.  I use a very low tech method.  I take a piece of cereal box weight cardboard and draw or trace out my image.

Here I took my moose template, traced around it and altered some of the areas to make a nicer silhouette.

You want to have lots of room around your image, more on that later.

At school I spend a bit of time explaining that we want to keep the negative space, we don't care about the moose itself.

It's hard to make that shift when kids are used to just cutting out the image.  To help I get them to put X's on the area we don't want.

A stencil doesn't have to be pretty, it's just a tool so why not make it easy on yourself........cut the image in half.


Now you can cut it out

and just tape it back together.

Paint your background.  I'm using disk tempera on a 90 lb wc paper.

A nice sunset.

For stencilling I want a nice round brush and a thick paint. I prefer acrylic but you can also use liquid tempera.  Acrylic tends to be more opaque so you get a better result.

You need to hold the stencil firmly in place.  You don't want it to shift.  At school I get the kids to work in pairs.  One holds the stencil and one pounces on the paint.   You can see now that it helps to have extra space around the stencil.

When applying the paint you want to pounce the brush straight up and down. You don't want to stroke side to side as the paint will get under the stencil.

Lift the stencil off in one lift straight up.  I tell the kids to use both hands, lift up and then put it to the side.

If you are re-using the stencil again wipe away the excess paint.  You want the side touching the background to be dry so you don't accidentally transfer any paint.

When the paint has dried we want to add some extra touches to take it further.

You can use chalk pastel, oil pastel, or even crayons.

Add some grass.  The yellow is the reflected light.  I also added yellow to the tips of the antlers and the back of the moose, areas I think would be reflecting that brilliant sunset.

I want a few clouds in the sky so I smudge in some reddish brown.

I also smudged some dark distant trees into the landscape.

That's it.  Gotta love a stencil project.


Be sure to enter the draw and give a stencils a try.

You never know what magic may occur.


(Fairy stencil on top of mixed media background)

See you Sunday

Gail

Animal Pinch Pots

I start a new residency tomorrow but I thought I would show you one of my last clay projects, animal pinch pots with Grade 3.



Sorry for some of the photo quality but the school lighting is always a challenge.

Each child chose their favourite animal. Some had their pots up on legs, some had the pot on it's side having a large mouth.  It was great to see all the different versions.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:

- clay, air dry if you do not have access to a kiln
- nail (for cutting), wooden skewer(for scratching and details), small cup of water
- cloth placemat or paper towel
- coloured glaze if using a kiln, acrylic paint if using air dry
- reference photos of animals if needed

PROCEDURE:

Take a lump of clay about the size of an orange.  You will be working on your cloth placemat or paper towel.

Using your thumbs push into the centre of the lump.  Start to form a pot.

Push down on the bottom to help spread the pot out.  Continue to form a nice shape.  You don't want it to be thicker than an inch on the sides or bottom.

You also don't want it to be too thin.

Dip your finger into the water and rub along the rim on your pot.  Make a nice edge.

Smooth the sides as well.

For this pot I'm adding a head to the front.

I take some more clay and form a nice head shape.  I keep it flat like a cookie so that my pot does not get too thick and then won't dry out.

To 'glue' clay to clay I make little scratches on the 2 surfaces.

Dip your finger in water and add some to the scratches.

Attach head.  Using the wooden skewer and add detail to the face.

Add some newspaper to the pot to help it keep it's shape when drying.

Add arms and legs.  Remember to 'scratch, scratch, water, water'.





In my pot I made my arms and legs flat and attached up against the pot.  If you are adding legs to hold up the pot make sure they are short and stubby.  No giraffes here.

To make a long tail you can roll a snake.

I then added it flat to the pot.

A short stubby tail could stick out but no long tails as they would just break off, better to attach to the side of the pot.

When you have finished sculpting, set pot aside to dry.  Drape with garbage bags or plastic tablecloths for 2 days to equalize.  Uncover and then let clay fully dry out, about 11-12 days.




Here is some of the clay at my last residency drying out.  When the clay has dried do a bisque fire.

When the clay has been fired and cooled you can glaze.  Finish with a glaze fire.

With air dry you'll skip the firing and paint with acrylic paint when the clay is dry.

That's it.






I have lots of new projects coming up that I'm doing at my next school so I hope to post them all shortly.