Hello! Kasia here to share some stencil inspirations with you. Acrylic paints and stencils arn’t a very new mix and I’m sure many of you already tried them together. But there is something very exciting and new I discovered a few weeks ago and still can’t believe that one product can change my routine so much. I am talking about Abstract heavy body acrylic paints which are working totally different than those that are more wet and fluid, especially with stencils. Heavy body paints are thick and have good coverage. You can play with texture, they look almost like oils – perfect for impasto technique. Let me share with you some of my favourite ways of working with heavy body acrylics and my stencils.

1. Faux Corrugated Cardboard technique

Apply a smooth and thick layer of heavy body acrylic paint through the stencil with the palette knife.

Don’t let the paint dry and using Catalyst Contour tool create a texture (still through the stencil):

Remove the stencils and let acrylic paint dry. Thanks to it’s thickness you can play with texture without adding gel medium or modeling paste, so paint also keeps it’s original colour and isn’t changing it’s flexibility.

Stencil used:

2. Layering

Play with acrylics and different stencils using a dry brush, sponge or even your fingers. 

With heavy body paints you don’t have to worry about “unplanned mixing colours” on your paper 🙂 Simply let the first layer dry a little bit and you can apply another colour (even a complementary one).

Stencils used:

3. Stencil stamping

There is no better match than a Gelli Plate and stencils, but if you add heavy body acrylic paints to it effect will really amaze you. The Abstract paint I’m working with doesn’t take very long to dry, but long enough to give you time to play with it on your Gelli Plate.

Create a simple background painting with two or three colours of heavy body acrylics. You can use a silicone brush like I did, but a simple paintbrush or even an old credit card will be also fine. Play with paint on paper while it’s still dry, build a texture using your tool or make it smooth with your fingers. Let it dry.

Cover your Gelli Plate with acrylic paint using brayer and place the Trapezoid Flower stencil on it. Press the stencil using a piece of paper (you can use it later for your art journals). Take your stencil and place in on your previously prepared background.

Press it again, this time with brayer – the print is ready.

To finish my art journal page I added more stenciling with a Gelli Plate, a vintage picture, some doodling with watercolor pencils and splatters with ink.

Stencil used:

For more inspirations and works with my stencils please visit my blog.