3D Fun with Stencil Prints

Earlier posts have focused on the use of stencils in developing surfaces that appear to have 3-dimensions; or, to put it differently, depth.

But what about genuine depth?  Three dimensions can really enhance art journal covers; hand-decorated picture frames; gift-tags; Christmas ornaments; etc.* 

There are many ways to build up three dimensions on a flat surface, especially when using acrylic media like modeling pastes, high-viscosity ("heavy body") gels and high-viscosity ("heavy body") paints.  

Today's post, however, highlights a different approach to building depth.  I completed this project on stretched canvas, but the wooden shapes shown here today are lightweight; any sturdy surface can hold them.

Below:  I've chosen a sheet of foreign newsprint stencil-printed with my 6" x 6" stencils Trivet A (top print) and Quilted Flower Garden (bottom print.)

Atop that printed paper, I've placed a wooden pre-cut shape.**

Clicking on the above photo to enlarge it, you can see that I've freehand drawn an oval line around the wooden shape -- not the same size, but about 1/4" wider than the shape, all the way around.  I've used a blue color pencil so that the line will blend in with one of the paper's colors.

Clicking now on the photo above, you can see I've removed the wooden shape and have begun to cut along the oval that I drew.  

I could have worked from the back of this print -- by flipping the paper over to the "wrong" side and tracing my line-around-the-shape on that side -- but, working from the front, I could easily choose the area of the print that I most wanted to highlight.

In the photo below, I've turned the cut-out over onto its "wrong" side and placed the wooden shape atop it, getting ready to use my embellishment-strength gluestick.  I could also have chosen to use heavy gel medium, applying it with a cotton swab, but I prefer these gluesticks because the drying time is shorter.  

In the next photo, below, I have started applying glue to the edge of the paper shape.  I could have added glue to the wooden shape itself, but experience has taught me that with this glue, no additional application is needed.

If this had been a project calling for a larger wooden shape, I would have cut slits in the paper before folding its glued edges up over the  wooden shape.  But since I was working with a small shape, and since I knew this print had been made on flexible paper, I went ahead with folding the paper over the wooden shape, overlapping the folds all along the edges.  See below:

Above:  the "wrong" side of the wooden shape with the edges of the print wrapped around it.

Below is the paper-covered shape, shown right-side-up.

Now that the 3D shape was finished, it was time to put it to work on a 9" x 12" stretched canvas that I'd prepared in advance; it's shown below.

Above:  On stretched canvas:  art developed with acrylic paints, stencil prints and 3D elements that include the oval shape described in this post.  Stencils used in making the prints include Garden Montage (9" x 12") and the May 2019 StencilGirl StencilClub 3-stencil set.  The artwork above was jury-chosen to be included in two gallery shows at the Monmouth Museum in Lincroft, NJ.

Having decided to use the same approach to another artwork, I pulled out another stencil print, this one made with my 6" x 6" stencil Marbles 6 (which also comes in a 9" x 12" size.)  The photo below shows where I've traced another line around another wooden shape.

You can click on the above image to enlarge it and better see detail.

Above:  As before, glue has been applied.  This time, since the shape was quite small, I added glue to both the paper edge as well as the wooden shape itself.

This small squarish shape hasn't yet been used but it will eventually be an embellishment on another artwork similar to the first one displayed in this post.

Don't stop at using wooden shapes!  Look around and you'll find lots of other 3D shapes that can be covered with stencil prints.  Some, like the cardboard coasters shown below, are large enough to become Christmas ornaments.  Let your imagination soar!

Above:  Click on this photo to better see details in its enlargement.

Stencils used in making today's featured prints:

 6" x 6" stencil Marbles 6

6" x 6" Quilted Flower Garden 

6" x 6" Trivet A

And of course ...

May 2019 StencilGirl StencilClub 3-piece set

*If you want wooden picture frames to decorate, you may want to try these or these.  If you want wooden tags to decorate for attaching to gifts, you might like these or these.

** These thin wooden shapes come in packages available at brick-and-mortar craft stores or here.
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