DuVeau wall stencils

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General Directions for Stencils

                You will need the following supplies:

Art is about the process as well as the result.  Experiment with different techniques to find which works best for you. Registration marks shown above, have been cut into the stencil to assist you in overlay and repeat lineup. It's recommended that you apply a small piece of masking tape to the wall at the registration marks and make a pencil mark on the tape rather than on your wall. Fallouts are included with specific designs to make touching up the background colors a breeze.

Dry Brush Method: Pour a small puddle of paint onto a paper plate. Dip your brush and swirl the brush firmly into a stack of paper towels or a paper plate using a circular motion- this will load the brush properly and remove excess paint before application to your painting surface.

Apply paint along the edge of the window using the circular motion described above. Work the paint gradually toward the center of the window, allowing the area in the center to remain lighter. Start with your lightest color first. Shade with additional colors, a small amount at a time for soft blending. Shade with darkest color last. When dry brush stenciling, the blend of color occurs on the stenciled surface. It is very helpful to try your colors out on paper first to determine the color blend. Go over the area repeatedly rather than attempting to cover in one application.  

Roller Stenciling Technique: For coverage of a large area, stencil the exposed shapes with a compact foam roller. Mix 3 parts paint to 1 part extender or use pre-mixed glaze. After rolling into the paint mixture, remove excess by rolling onto paper towels or paper bags. This will even out the paint distribution. Roll the paint into the windows; repeating application after it is dry to the touch if necessary.

Paint: Acrylic paints are available in a wide variety of colors typically in 2oz spill proof containers. Acrylics dry very fast making it easy to proceed to the next overlay immediately. Be careful not to use too much paint, as it will run under the edge of the window. If you experience a build-up of paint on the brush, which sometimes dries and prevents even paint application, you may drag the brush against a paper towel saturated with some  (rubbing) alcohol to remove some of the paint.

Satin, eggshell or flat paint is recommended as the base coating for best results. If you have semi-gloss paint on your walls and wish to avoid repainting you may add some "tooth" to the surface by lightly sanding the area to be stenciled. Most of our designs have multiple overlays to assist you in creating "Trompe L'oeil? effects. As you stencil your colors from light to dark, each color should cover less area than the color before it so that you see the blend and the variations between them. 

 To clean your stencil, use warm, soapy water, being careful not to bend or tear the fine cuts. Mineral spirits (paint thinner) will remove any spray adhesive you may have used. more