Simple Stencils
To create this Star Wards Han solo stencil I first:
Found an image from the web and pasted it into word.
In word I expanded it to the size I wanted it (use Microsoft Excel if you need to do stencils larger than A4.)
Use the picture toolbar to heighten the contrast and brightness - I print out a very bright image as it takes away most of the detail and leaves you just the basic highlights and shadow which is all you need.
Print image onto plain a4 white card or acetate
Cut out with your craft knife just the shadows in the image - you may have to use your own judgement as you go along if there is a lot of fine detail as you need a couple of millimetre gap between each cut so you don't risk the stencil breaking. Its generally quite easy just to make a shadow slightly smaller or add a few of your own shadows if there is too much hightlight. I added somw of the folds in the clothes of the stencil above.
When you have your final stencil, you need to do the next steps quickly in order that the spraymount doesn't stick or the paint runs.
Holding the card about 8 inches away from the image, give it a light coat of spray mount (about 2 seconds is enough)
Press the stencil onto the surface you want to stencil onto using a teatowel to press down so the spraymount fixes evenly - you may want to use your fingers to press delicate parts.
Spray using spraypaint from a good 8 inches away It's up to you if you want a full black coverage or the speckled splatter effect from lightly covering the stencil.
Pull Stencil away starting with a corner- I like to do this up to ten seconds after I've finished spraying as I've found the spraypaint can soak through the card or dribble from the edges, others may like to do this differently.
Put wet stencil somewhere safe to dry - I like to peg my drying stencils to a washing line but this does ten to bend the card which for me is why spray mount becomes so important as it will correct this for you.
So there you go, the basics!
