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Aloha from Stencil Hawaii !
Stencil Hawaii has created a line of decorative stencils and border stencils depicting plants, animals and artifacts precious to Hawaii They are different than most stencils on the market today, and although simple to apply, require a bit of care to achieve their special soft and realistic look. Single designs may be used alone, repeated or combined with other designs at ceiling or floor, on furniture or to highlight a particular area.
SUPPLIES
We suggest using oil paint sticks (they just don't look as good with anything
else) and ½ inch diameter stencil brushes. They are neat, the paints
don't run, and colors may be applied simultaneously without waiting for the
paint to dry. The paints and brushes may be purchased at an art supply store,
or through catalog sales (such as Dick Blick Art Materials at 1-800-447-8129).
We have used Shiva Artist Paint Stick oil colors, and noted the colors we
used on each design page. Of course, we encourage you to experiment with your
own color choices, and we'd love to hear from you about how they work.
- Paints
- Brushes
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Transparent tape
- Paper towels
- A paring knife for peeling the skin off paint stick
- Turpentine to clean the brushes upon completion of the project
- A stencil brush scrubber-this is not absolutely necessary but we think it is well worth the investment.
PAINTING!
First of all, this is REALLY easy to do, and it's really easy to make them look great. Practice working with the stencils on a piece of paper. If you are creating a border, you may want to try it out for a few feet on a roll of paper such as computer or butcher paper to see how the spacing looks best for your purposes. Measure the area for stencil placement, both horizontally and vertically. Gently tape stencil overlay #1 in position, and lightly make pencil dots in the four corner placement holes so that each overlay will line up perfectly.
Prepare your paints (peel off dried skin), and use a clean dry stencil brush for each color. Rub brush onto the fresh end of the paint stick. Using a tapping or sweeping stroke, start at the outer edge of the stencil, working inward, making edges darker by applying a little more paint, and leaving the center lighter for highlights or adding other colors. Begin lightly, and look at the finished product before deciding whether to go darker. We have always found that "less is more". Carefully remove overlay #1, place overlay #2 in position being sure to line up corner dots. Tape, and continue painting. Looking at the colored picture of the design included in the package will give you an idea of how depth was achieved by shading.
CLEANUP
Clean the brushes with turpentine and stencil brush scrubber, and rinse with soap and water. Let air dry. Stencils should be cleaned by placing the used stencil on a paper towel on a hard surface and gently blotting and wiping off the paint with another paper towel within 15 minutes of use, or the paint will dry. If that should happen, you can remove dried paint with a kitchen scouring pad, soap and warm water.