The Practical Applications Of Stencils

Long before lasers and computer graphics entered the picture, stencils have served a variety of purposes in the real world. Road signs, store labels, letterings for publications, book covers, stamp substitutes, decorative patterns and even signatures where mass produced using this process. Cutting out some figures and shapes on thin, appropriate materials, and painting over them to leave the desired form is a simple but very gratifying way of creating messages via a multitude of canvasses. And in those simpler times, stencils paved the way for ingenuity and resourcefulness with an established art form.

This doesn't mean, however, that with the advent of modern technology, stencils have lost their practical applications. The fact is, they are just as important and as widely used in this day and age as they were some centuries ago. Aside from the aesthetic fulfillment that the craft can provide, it also makes possible the realization of many workable implementations.

Go check out your kitchen. Do you see the designs embedded on the porcelain dishes? How about the patterns in your tiles? Also, have you noticed the distinct decorative sequences of your wallpaper? And perhaps, the designs in other ornaments also caught your eye? These are all products of the consistent printing pattern made possible by stenciling. Without the craft, such ornate decorations wouldn't even be possible.

How about your t-shirt design? Chances are, it's printed through silk screen. Silk screen, of course, was inspired by stenciling. Instead of painting passing through thin metal, plastic, wood or paper cutouts as with stenciling, silk screen allows the paint to pass through a series of screens to separate the application of colors and to come up with a beautiful whole.

Traditional animation (read: non-computer graphic cartoons) also makes good use of stencils, not only for the sharp colors required by such a medium of entertainment, but also for the repetition of background cells as well as the non-moving components of the main image.

Traditional typesetting for most garage newsletters and old school publishing houses, as well as drafting requirements in certain industries, employ stenciling as one of their essential processes. Blueprints for new houses, for example, are made easier with the use of cutouts and layering.

Preparing two-ups, storyboards, and conceptual art for presentation purposes also utilize stencils for a more organic look, which would give the piece a personal touch. Computer graphics can create more striking presentations at faster rates, but sometimes, a more organic approach is made necessary, especially when pitching an idea that you want to convey as something that would be cared for by human hands.

No, stenciling is not dead. It is enduring and flexible enough to adapt to the changing times, and in the process, elevating itself as a timeless arty form with very pragmatic functions.