Traditional Stencils

Traditional stencils are those that have been made for arts, crafts and home decorating. Stencils are templates for creating duplicate patterns, symbols, shapes, letters and numbers by providing a negative, or backward, image outline that is traced or filled with pencil, paint, markers or other form of pigment.

History

Different forms of traditional stencils have been used to mark and print throughout history. Simple hand design patterns have been found on cave paintings from the prehistoric period. Books were also printed by using traditional stencils made from woodblocks before the printing press was invented in the 15th century.

Types

Traditional home stencils are used to create patterns on walls and fabric and are usually ornamental designs that include flowers, leaves, vines, hearts, stars and animals. Screen printing is a way of applying traditional stencil designs to fabrics or surfaces by transferring pigment from a screen.

Contstruction

Traditional stencils are often homemade, and designs can be acquired from books or from stencil websites on the Internet. To construct one, sketch or trace the stencil design onto sturdy paper or poster board, and cut it out from the paper with a sharp blade.

References

• Free Stenciling Patterns: The History of Stenciling

Resources

• Stencil Search