Tools of the Painting Trade

Whenever the topic of stencils comes up it seems to generate strong feelings.  I personally love stencils and use them frequently in many of my designs, stencils are a quick and easy way to develop a background or add interesting detail.  In just a few minutes an artist can add stars to a sky or to a Santa's coat and it requires very little skill.  Anytime that I can use a tool that makes my job easier I'm all for it, whether it is around my house or as an artist.  You can see in this photo the stars on this Santa's coat which were all done using a stencil and it literally took me moments.  This pattern is called First Star of Christmas and is available on my website as both a paper pattern and as an e-pattern. 

I have a decent collection of stencils and have a few that I seem to use more often than others probably because they are of very high quality and produce a consistent image.  I also have a number of newer ones that I recently used in a soon to be released Halloween design that I purchased from Renee Mullins.  www.plumpurdy.com Bat Night, Candy Corn, and Spooky Words, all of which were excellent stencils and were a great size to be easy to use on any surface.  They are 8.5" X 5.5" which is smaller than many stencils but made them very easy and comfortable to use.  Another fantastic stencil that I've used is made by Laurie Speltz www.lauriespeltz.com.  Laurie started developing a line of stencils many years ago which she called base coat stencils, made in layers so that you could start with the base coat and move through to adding details.  They were wildly popular with anyone painting for shows and were a brilliant idea.  I've also used a number of her stencils and can attest to the fact that they are another quality stencil product. 

Typically when I purchase a stencil I have a specific use in mind but just recently decided that I needed generic stencils that I can use at any time in the foreground or background.  I only recently discovered these stencils and just received them in the mail as of yet I haven't had a chance to use them but am looking forward to trying them out.  I've ordered an interesting assortment and really can't wait to use them on a future project. 

 

Do any of you know of any interesting stencils?  I'd love to hear of different brands that I haven't tried yet.