Making simple stencils

1Holes that print

Road markings, the numbers painted on water tanks and school desks, and the lettering on many shop signs and sacks are made with stencils. A stencil lets you print the same clean shape again and again, even if you think you "cannot draw", because the edge of the hole does the drawing for you. All you need is card, a sharp blade and some care.

2Key vocabulary

• Stencil: a thin sheet with shapes cut out of it. Colour is dabbed through the holes onto the surface underneath; the solid parts block it.
• Positive print: the print made through the hole: a coloured shape on plain paper.
• Mask: the piece you cut out, laid on the paper so that colour is dabbed all round it. It gives a negative print: a plain shape on a coloured background.
• Island: a part of the design that is completely surrounded by a cut, like the middle of the letter O. Nothing holds it, so it falls out.
• Bridge (tie): a narrow strip of the stencil left uncut to hold an island in place.

Letters and numbers with enclosed spaces all have islands: A, B (two), D, O, P, Q, R, and 0, 4, 6, 8 (two) and 9. The small gaps that bridges leave in each letter are the familiar "stencil look" of lettering on boxes and road signs.

3Materials (all low cost)

• Stencil sheet: an old manila file folder or the card from a cereal box. Plastic from an old document folder lasts longer, is waterproof and lets you see through it to position your print.
• Waterproofing: rub a candle firmly over both sides of the card and polish with a cloth, or cover both sides with clear tape. Waxed card survives many prints.
• Cutting tool: a craft knife (cutter). For simple shapes, small sharp scissors will do.
• Cutting board: thick cardboard, an old plank or a pile of newspaper, so the blade never cuts the desk.
• A pencil, a ruler (metal if you have one) and masking tape.

4Make it: cut a stencil step by step

1. Plan the size. Draw your motif inside a square, for example 6 cm. Leave at least 2 cm of solid card all round the design. This frame keeps stray paint off the paper and stops the stencil tearing.
2. Simplify. Use bold shapes. Parts narrower than about 3 mm tear easily or fill with paint.
3. Shade what you will cut. Lightly shade every part that will become a hole. Any unshaded shape that is surrounded by shading is an island.
4. Add bridges. Give every island at least one bridge, and large islands two, each about 3 to 4 mm wide, joining it to the frame.
5. Transfer. Trace or draw the design onto the stencil card.
6. Cut. Tape the card to the board. Cut the small inner shapes first and the big shapes last, so the card stays strong while you work. Draw the knife along the line with several light strokes; on curves, turn the card, not the knife.
7. Test. Make a test print on scrap paper. Mend any slip of the knife with tape on both sides, then trim the tape.

Worked example: bridges for a word

Ishimwe wants to stencil the word AMAHORO (peace) on a banner. Which letters have islands? M and H have none. Each A has one (the triangle above the bar), each O has one, and R has one (its bowl). Islands = 2 (A) + 2 (O) + 1 (R) = 5, so the stencil needs at least 5 bridges. He gives each O two bridges, top and bottom, so that the ring looks even: 7 bridges in all.

5Look closely

Stencils are used around the world. This one was cut in Japan before 1868 for dyeing cloth. Japanese dyers cut such stencils, called katagami, from several layers of paper glued together and toughened with persimmon juice, and pushed a rice paste through them onto cloth before dyeing it. In Nigeria, Yoruba artists making adire cloth have pushed cassava-starch paste through metal stencils in the same way.

• Look at the waves: dozens of long, thin cuts, each stopping just before it meets the next one, so that the paper between them holds together.
• Look at the carp: the pale areas are holes, the dark lines between them are paper left uncut. The cutter had to plan where every piece would be held.
• Compare the fine cutting here with your own: start with bold shapes, and aim for this kind of precision as your skill grows.

Practice