Make Your Own Stencil
Stencils are fun to play with when making art. You can trace inside them with a pencil or marker, or dab paint inside the holes to make a picture or pattern. Make your own abstract stencil!
What you need:
Paper square (ours is 6 x 6 cut from a magazine)
Scissors
Paper of any size for the background
Paint (any kind) or ink pad
Cosmetic sponge or paper towel
Removable tape (masking tape, painter’s tape, Magic tape)
What you do:
Fold the paper square in half from top to bottom.
Fold it again from side to side to make a smaller square.
Fold one corner (any one) to match the opposite one to make a triangle.
With scissors, snip along the fold to make little triangles and half circles.
Unfold the triangle to go back to the smaller square again and make more tiny shape snips along the folded edge.
Unfold once more and make more shape snips of different sizes.
Unfold so that it’s back to the original square to reveal the spaces of abstract pattern.
Tape the stencil over the background paper – if the paper is the same size as the stencil, then tape it to the table.
Dab the cosmetic sponge or paper towel in the paint or ink and then dab it in the stencil spaces. Use as many colors as you like!
Carefully remove the tape to lift the stencil.
You may leave the finished piece as is, or use paint, ink, or markers to make a frame around its edges – or use markers to add doodles and drawings around the abstract image!
