HOT AIR BALLOON STENCILS & MASKS Released Today at StencilGirl!

 
Today I'm announcing my new four-part release, Hot Air Balloons and Masks, which comes in two sheets, one 6" x 6" sheet and one mini-sheet measuring 4" x 4".

Although these sheets come in two sizes, the stencils and masks are identical in design -- see below --

Above:  the stencil is on the left.  The mask is on the right.

Note:  A mask "masks" -- that is, hides -- everything that you place under it.  The function of a stencil, on the other hand, is to give you an imprint of an image that can contain more details than a mask can.  In this case, the image is a hot air balloon with three vertical stripes.

Today I'll show one way I've used these stencils and masks together.  A sponge brayer was my tool of choice, but the traditional sponge-pouncing method would work just as well.

First, I'll post the final photo -- it shows what the results were, after I followed a step-by-step method that I learned from Mary Beth Shaw:

Now for the steps that got me there, starting with the photo below...

The above photo shows a black substrate.  On it I've placed both the masks.  Next, I loaded a sponge brayer with heavy-body white paint.  With the brayer I added a layer of this paint over the masks.  While rolling the brayer over each mask, I held each in place with one finger.  You can even see my forefinger mark in the middle of the larger mask above!

Below you can see the results after the two masks have been lifted --

After the white paint had dried, I started my next step on the left side of the print, covering the left masked-imprint with the stencil of corresponding size (6" x 6".)  As you can see below, it was at this point that I started to use masking tape -- to make sure that the stencil had been placed exactly where I wanted it, lining it up with the masked-imprint below.

At this point, it was time to carefully mask off the mask half of this new stencil set.  This was to prevent the hole of the punched-out mask from showing up in my final image.  To mask off the mask-hole, I used a different kind of masking tape.  This yellow tape has a low-tack sticking surface -- making it easier to remove and far less likely to damage the print underneath.

You can click on the above photo to enlarge it and better see the way I shaped pieces of the yellow masking tape to cover the mask-hole on the far right.  On the left, you can see my sponge brayer loaded with a bright pink heavy-body acrylic paint.

The photo below is a close-up of the stencil now that the pink heavy-body paint has been brayered over it.  Notice how the yellow masking tape on the right has prevented the paint from imprinting the right area of the substrate.

Not shown is a view of the pink hot air balloon that appeared when I lifted the stencil.

Next -- while keeping the Hot Air Balloon stencil taped in place -- I waited for the pink paint to dry.  

In the photo below, you can see what I did after testing the pink paint to make sure it had dried.

-- I placed my 6" x 6" Sprigs stencil over the stencil and (under this stencil) its pink imprint.  

Holding Sprigs with one hand, I used a fresh brayer to add a white layer of heavy-body acrylic paint.  See below:

  

The photo above shows the results after I had lifted off the masking taped "sandwich" of the Sprigs stencil and the Hot Air Balloon stencil.

And the photo below shows, again, the results after I had repeated this step-by-step process with the 4" x 4" size--

Thanks for visiting this blog today!