Making a Print From a Re-Usable Stencil

Some days, I just need to create something, but I need to do it quickly because I'm busy and have a million things to do. Now, I have come to realize that I feel better in general when I make time to be creative so it's important to me to prioritize creativeness in my self-care regimen, so I tend to have a few ideas spinning in my head at any given time that would be both time effective for my current/given schedule, but would also help me clear my head and use the left side of my brain.

As a lover of the stage and someone who has made several appearances on them, I have always been drawn to the comedy/tragedy mask image that has come to be synonymous with theater, and have used this image in the past when creating things for mutual drama loving friends, and I figured it was time I made something similar for myself, but as I often come back to this theme, I wanted something I could recreate often and quickly. This way, 1) I can sell the finished product on my Etsy store, and more than 1 for a greater profit, and 2) I can recreate this image quickly and easily on pretty much anything I wanted as it is a theme I seem to come back to often.

For This Craft, You Will Need:
-Printed Image or (idea of image to create)
-Tracing Paper
-Pencil
-Erasure
-Tape (scotch tape or painters tape)
-Quality Paper
-Colored Pencils (as desired)
​- Pens (as desired)

1. Find Desired Image, and Create a Reusable Stencil From it Using Tracing Paper
You can google search for images that you like, or you can draw a design yourself, either way it doesn't really matter. Once you have decided on your image/design, trace/draw the image on a piece of tracing paper, making the lines thick with 'lead' from your pencil so the lines are easily transferred later. Once that has been completed, turn the tracing paper over and outline the design in pencil on the opposite side as well - this way you can use your design in any direction you wish.

For this project, I drew inspiration from an image I found on google, and traced parts of it while tweaking it a bit for my final design (see below).

​2. Transfer Your Image on Your Desired Surface
I simply wanted to make a print, so I found a piece of quality paper that I liked, and transferred the image from the tracing paper to the good paper by taping the tracing paper on top of my good paper, and following the lines of the image with your pencil while pressing firmly so that the 'lead' on the other side of the tracing paper is transferred onto your desired surface. Be sure not too hard or you will rip through the tracing paper.

Once you're done outlining the image, peek below the tracing paper while it is still taped down to ensure you didn't miss any lines while tracing your design, this is also a good time to go over any areas again to darken them as necessary. Once you are satisfied with the transferred image, carefully remove the taped tracing paper stencil and set it aside for later use.

​3. Darken Lines & Begin Shading
Ensure your lines are dark enough to work from, and begin to highlight and shade your work as desired.

​4. Add Color
Color/fill-in your image/design and desired.

​5. Add Outline & Details
For this image I wanted something that felt slightly faded but still left an impression, so I decided to outline my design with a nice dark pen to give it a bit more pizzaz- small final touches really make all the difference!

​​Enjoy!