Multipurpose Stencil Ink

Introduction

Stenciling is one the four major processes of printmaking, that involves the application of stencil ink onto the fabric's surface through previously cut stencils. Stencil is a material (paper, cardboard, emulsion, film, etc.) from which certain areas are removed or cut. When the stencil is securely laid on a surface, paint or stencil ink is squeezed through the voids directly onto the surface by dabbing vertically with a blunt bristle brush. The shapes of the void are complex, reproducing the pattern on the surface placed below. This is the one printmaking method which does not reverse the image. Examples of stenciling are screen printing and pochoir.

Serigraphy

Stencils were employed as early as the fifteenth century to color popular prints, as they are to this day. Screen printing or serigraphy is essentially a stenciling process, in which stencils are applied to fabric stretched across a frame. Paint or stencil ink is then squeezed with a squeegee through the open or unblocked areas of the screen and deposited on the paper or fabric below. This elementary technique allows prints and maps that do not require great perfection to be printed very cheaply.

Pochoir

In mid 1920s, a French craftsman, J, Saude, invented the pochoir process as a reproductive medium for illustrating books. This technique involved the manual application of color onto a print through a series of carefully cut metal templates. Many artists of the School of Paris (Ecole de Paris) popularized this process. In this printing process stencil ink is brushed through a series of stencils to achieve a final color image.

Stencil ink, which is water based, can be transparent or opaque. The inks are used to fashion sharp-edged paintings of the desired image, by applying ink on the fabric with the cutout, leaving a print of that pattern on the surface below. These inks are available in aerosol cans and are used to apply the color code in designs of your choice such as lines, dots, triangles etc. The Internet provides the most comprehensive list of the most trusted companies providing a variety of inks to the stencil industry.