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Post by elioti on Aug 12, 2015 1:22:53 GMT
Ouch, i know the feeling. The top of my thumb was hanging off for a good couple of weeks due to a Swann-Morton blade, annoying thing was i wasn't even cutting a stencil at the time i was opening up one of those fucking plastic packages that they make a nightmare to get into.
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Post by FAKE on Aug 19, 2015 19:27:06 GMT
Ouch, i know the feeling. The top of my thumb was hanging off for a good couple of weeks due to a Swann-Morton blade, annoying thing was i wasn't even cutting a stencil at the time i was opening up one of those fucking plastic packages that they make a nightmare to get into. HA! this also happened not cutting stencils... I was cutting a rope and slash!! |
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Post by FAKE on Aug 19, 2015 19:28:34 GMT
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 3:56:19 GMT
Well, there is not much I can add here. I also use an Olfa X-Acto, AK Blades and cardboard (have switched a lot between different types). As Aza said, buy enough blades to get you going.  |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 6:55:41 GMT
Welcome Tinku, that's incredible work!
What weight paper do you use for your stencils?
Also it looks like you have a large printer!
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 12:18:38 GMT
Thanks a lot, AzaThat one was cut on a material called "Cartulina Americana" in Argentina. I guess it is more or less like what you use (around 200 g). When I cut from a printed reference, what I do is putting the printed/drawn image on top of the cardboard, so you can either use an image printed using a plotter or the attached A4s. The advantage is that, if you cut through both, you end up having two layers (the one on paper is much weaker, but you can use it to paint outdoors, as it is easier to move). |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 14:42:35 GMT
Thanks for the info.
I have an A3 printer, so I patch together lots of sheets to make the larger sizes.
Unfortunately I can never get them perfectly stitched, which makes alignment difficult, and also the large stitched piece will not lay perfectly flat for spraying.
I would love an A1 printer, but the cost is just too high for me.
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 14:54:06 GMT
Aza , I don't actually own any printer, but if you want to print something bigger, there should be plenty of places where you can print on a simple paper for a cheap price (printing a 1.5m x 1m layer on paper costs around 2 pounds here, in Buenos Aires - so I guess around 3/4 in the UK). If you don't need to print too many, I guess it is worth it, as you also save plenty of time.
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 15:06:22 GMT
So how do you 'stick' the thin paper to the card? Surely it must be stuck down, or it would be too difficult with it moving all the time? Cheers  |
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Post by Dr. Plip on Oct 2, 2015 15:07:58 GMT
I used to think this when I looked at images of Penny's work, but when the stencilling is so good, I sometimes find the finished work is secondary to the skill of the stencil cutter. Does that make sense? I can see an image that, for all intents and purposes, could be silkscreened, but when you see the stencils that were cut, you are blown away by it. Not taking anything away from the artist or the finished work, but I sometimes find the process and skill involved more impressive than the finished piece. And that's purely because sometimes you just can't tell that the finished piece is stencilled.
Am I making sense?
Anyway, I'm just in awe of you folk that sacrifice many hours of your life to cut multiple layers for stencils. Mind blowing work.
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 15:14:36 GMT
I struggle with thoughts like that. I sometimes think I am just cheating as I cannot paint very well in a traditional sense, and all I am doing is cutting holes in paper. But on the other hand, I do spend a long time planning and thinking of the best way to achieve the finished painting, It is mind bending at times and like a puzzle  |
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Post by iamzero on Oct 2, 2015 15:22:32 GMT
I used to spray mount a4 pieces of paper onto the larger piece of card before cutting then once cut peel away the 80g stuff. Now I print out on a plotter printer. Much less messing around.
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 15:29:54 GMT
So how do you 'stick' the thin paper to the card? Surely it must be stuck down, or it would be too difficult with it moving all the time? Cheers Just put some tape on the edges, and it won't move at all. *don't cover the entire edge with tape. You just need a small piece every 30 cm, more or less, if you are working on something big. I used to project and draw all the main references on the cardboard. Just as iamzero said, everything gets easier when you use a plotter printer (if you work with medium/big formats). |
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Post by Dr. Plip on Oct 2, 2015 15:31:40 GMT
I struggle with thoughts like that. I sometimes think I am just cheating as I cannot paint very well in a traditional sense, and all I am doing is cutting holes in paper. But on the other hand, I do spend a long time planning and thinking of the best way to achieve the finished painting, It is mind bending at times and like a puzzle But a good portion of the work is the planning and construction of the layers. There are many artists that couldn't do that, but perhaps could paint in a more "traditional" sense. There's real skill there. I mean, Penny could just get his stencils laser cut and nobody would know any different. But part of my attraction to his work (and the work of many other artists) is knowing the hours that's been put in. If he just plonked the finished article down in front of me, without showing or telling me just how much skill and work has gone into it, I might not be as impressed. There's no cheating there. Sore fingers and broken blades prove that. |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 15:32:07 GMT
iamzero Avatar Oct 2, 2015 16:22:32 GMT 1 iamzero said: I used to spray mount a4 pieces of paper onto the larger piece of card before cutting then once cut peel away the 80g stuff. Now I print out on a plotter printer. Much less messing around. Do you just cut out the paper direct? I find paper too flimsy for bigger stencils. Spray mounting A1 paper to A1 card might be a way forward for me though. But again I would have to make sure I can stick it down perfectly flat without wrinkles |
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 15:35:25 GMT
This is a 5x4m stencil that I still have not managed to paint. In this case, for example, using a plotter printer was definitely better than patching A4s together.  |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 15:37:02 GMT
Good advice here So when you paint something like that on a wall, how to you fix it to the wall and minimise under spray? I suppose this becomes easier and a larger size when the details are not so small. When I spray my stencils on to canvas, I cannot even begin to work out how I would do it on a wall, as I use so many weights to hold it all flat! |
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Post by iamzero on Oct 2, 2015 15:53:01 GMT
Depends what the gaffer has been print plans out on at work but 80gsm or 90gsm. I prefer the light stuff, easier to work with.
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 15:53:20 GMT
Good advice here So when you paint something like that on a wall, how to you fix it to the wall and minimise under spray? I suppose this becomes easier and a larger size when the details are not so small. When I spray my stencils on to canvas, I cannot even begin to work out how I would do it on a wall, as I use so many weights to hold it all flat! I actually find it easier to avoid under spray when painting on walls, as I normally end up painting horizontally when I do it on canvas (and you have to deal with unwanted drops of spraypaint, etc.). I normally don't use weights to paint, but I press each part with my left hand while I spray with the right. I guess it takes longer than using weights, as you need to do it a bit slower, control the can a bit more and be more careful, but I guess it is worth the time after a much longer period of cutting. The bigger the size, the least you need to worry about under spray, as it becomes unnoticeable (mostly when working outdoors, the street is quite nicer in that way, as every tiny mistake is easy to notice on a canvas). These are photos from a workshop in El Salvador. In this case we also used plotter paper, but it was out of our budget to print all the layers (8.5x4.5m, 4 layers), so instead we decided to project them and draw them (we were not missing man/woman power). In this case, the choice of material was quite effective, as it is much faster to cut and we did not need the layers to last for more than one mural.    |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 15:58:05 GMT
Thanks for all the info Tinku, you have been very helpful |
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 16:02:06 GMT
Thanks for all the info Tinku, you have been very helpful We are all discovering things (and I like to think that nothing is yet written when talking about stencils, as there is plenty of space to discover), so it is also great to read about what you and iamzero do, for future projects. This space is great in that sense. |
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Post by Tinku on Oct 2, 2015 16:15:22 GMT
I just saw your "system of weights", Aza . Those "spiders" are absolutely amazing. |
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Post by Aza on Oct 2, 2015 16:16:33 GMT
Haha, that's why I cannot see how to transfer the same stencils to a wall |
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Post by stender on Oct 2, 2015 16:32:26 GMT
My finger is numb from cutting a fraction of what you do today! think i'll have to invest in something other than a swann as it is killing me.
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Post by bustart on Oct 2, 2015 17:04:20 GMT
i also work with normal cutters, as cardboard i use 300-400g depense on what i can find. I have started 3 years ago the stencil city project together with my girlfrind. we paint our own citys house by house and in the end we fill them with artworks we painted the last 10 years on the streets. all the paintings are done 100% with stencils and have up to 200 layers. here a pic from a painting we did in Paris, as you can see we fill up the whole street with stencil when we paint those things.... |
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