Tips for Getting a Clean Edge on Stencial Art
Hey, friends! As many of you know, I merely got dorsum from a trip to Plaid Headquarters where I got to play with all kinds of fun new products, effort new techniques, and get training from experts in the crafting business organization. One of our workshops was focused on tips for painting and stenciling, and I accept to be honest, my outset thought was, "what are they going to say that I don't already know?" I mean, I've been painting arts and crafts projects for as long every bit I can call back…what could I possibly have not heard by at present? Well, estimate what? I was admittedly wrong. The tips I learned are amazing life hacks that volition modify the way I pigment. I found myself wondering how I'd gone this long never knowing these simple things, and I think y'all might feel the same fashion!
Pro Tips for Brush Care
Tip #1: Always wash a new castor before using it.
Why? Well, you know how when you lot take a new brush out of the bundle, the ends experience kind of matted together? That's a residue from the manufacturing process. If you don't wash it out, your beard won't feel or comport the mode they're supposed to and can keep your paint from applying evenly.
Tip #2: Gently pull on the bristles before using a brush.
Peculiarly if you take a new brush, you'll want to give a gentle tug in the natural direction of the bristles to remove whatsoever loose ones before you paint. We all know how annoying information technology is to find a bristle on our project!
Tip #3: Launder brushes immediately later use past moving them back and forth in water.
The longer you lot wait to wash your brush, the harder it volition be to get all the paint back out. I confess that more than than one time, I have just thrown a brush away because it was easier than trying to clean off the caked on paint. But move the brush dorsum and along along the bottom of your container of water in the same way you lot would if you were painting and the residual paint will work its way out.
Tip #4: Dry your brush past pulling it toward yourself from a folded paper towel.
Our instructor, Andy, never paints without a folded paper towel at his work station. Fold it in one-half lengthwise, then in one-half again so you lot have a petty square. Then, open information technology upward and place your wet brush inside. Place one hand over the beard and apply the other to pull the castor toward yourself. This removes the h2o while helping the brush to retain its natural shape.
Tip #five: Always store damp brushes horizontally.
While it'due south swell to store a dry brush with the bristles up and the handle down in a jar, if you lot practice this with a brush that still has water in it, the water will travel down the handle of the castor and crusade some problems. Outset, it can weaken the adhesive that holds the metal butt in identify and cause the barrel to go loose or autumn off. In cases where there'southward even more than water, it can even cause the handle of the brush itself to flake, peel, or rot. After washing your brush, let it lay horizontally until it's completely dry before returning it to its normal storage.
Pro Tips for Base Blanket
Tip #i: Place your paint on a palette or paper plate.
I'm definitely guilty of using the paint bottle cap or just dunking my castor into the bottle of paint itself, but this can crusade extra mess. Using the cap makes the cap itself a mess, which can get on and in your paint when yous screw it dorsum on. Dunking straight into the bottle can get paint all the manner upwardly your brush handle, from which it gets all over your project and you!
Tip #ii: Create a "nest" for yourself at your worktable with everything you demand.
You want a protective surface under your project, your paint and brushes, your folded newspaper towel, and a container of water. The water should e'er go on the side of your ascendant hand. This keeps yous from having to reach beyond your project to wet/wash your brushes, which can crusade you to get drips and splashes on top of your work.
Tip #3: Load your brush by placing it in the pool of paint and pulling it toward yourself. And then, flip information technology over and echo.
This will evenly coat both sides and make full upward the bristles.
Tip #four: Pigment from the end to the offset.
What does that mean? Start at one terminate and make a brusque stroke. Next, go over that same surface area and extend your stroke a bit farther. Continue, ever starting in the aforementioned spot and extending farther until you accept one long, solid brushstroke that covers the entire project. This fashion, you're not removing paint yous already applied and you have no visible brushstrokes!
Tip #5: Whenever possible, paint with the grain of your wood.
I call back nigh people know this one, but just in example, it bears stating. Unless there's some kind of special circumstance where yous can't, always paint with the grain.
Tip #6: Sand lightly in between coats.
You'll want to exercise this by hand, unless information technology'due south a huge projection, and use newspaper with a grit between 140-220. This will remove any imperfections, buildup, or residue that got trapped in your previous coat.
Tip #7: When it comes to pigment, cold = wet.
Nosotros can all come across when the very top of our project is dry, but how do we know it's dry all the way downwardly? If you lot lightly place your hand on the project and it feels cold, there'southward all the same wet pigment underneath. If it'due south room temperature, you're skillful to go on to the next step! I think this was my favorite tip…I had no idea!
Pro Tips for Stenciling
Information technology's so piece of cake to mess up a stenciled image, and the culprit is near always also much paint! When you lot over apply, the paint seeps under the stencil and "bleeds," causing the image to blur. Hither are some ways to prevent that from happening.
Tip #1: Completely record your image in place.
Using painters' tape or washi tape, brand sure to record all edges of the stencil too as whatsoever areas y'all don't desire color. The more flush with the surface your stencil is, the meliorate your design will exist. Agglutinative stencils are the absolute best if you tin can find them in the shape or pattern you lot want; they adhere completely and prevent even the small inside pieces of a design from moving around.
Tip #ii: Utilize a stencil brush.
It may seem like a silly affair to say, just I acknowledge there were times several years ago when I tried to use the wrong tool for the chore. A flat paint brush is not made for stenciling and won't requite you lot the results you want. Invest in a castor designed specifically for stenciling. They come in all unlike sizes, and they're fabricated to assistance y'all get a clean image.
Tip #three: Load, and so offload your brush.
Different when y'all load a brush for a "normal" coat of paint, to load a stencil brush, you'll gently tip it into the pigment while keeping it completely vertical. Merely the very ends of the bristles should contact the paint. And so, before touching it to your project, offload it onto a paper towel. Agree it vertically, with the bristles touching the towel, so make information technology "hula hoop" by moving it in a clockwise direction. You desire to remove any excess paint, leaving your brush almost dry out.
Tip #four: Stipple or Swirl
One time your brush is offloaded, carefully apply your paint by tapping information technology onto the open areas of the stencil. You will have to repeatedly reload your brush with paint, but it's much meliorate to go back for more than to employ likewise much and ruin your image. The pros actually have this one step further past gently swirling the brush while property it vertically, instead of borer it up and downwards. Get for whichever method is more comfortable for you.
Tip #5: Remove the stencil while your paint is nevertheless wet.
This seems counterintuitive, but if y'all let the paint to dry, the pigment on the stencil can bond with the paint on your project. Then, when you effort to remove the stencil, some of the pigment may peel off with information technology.
Pro Tip for Paint Bottles
This one little tip blew my mind! You lot know how paint bottles take that annoying lilliputian plastic seal effectually the cap? If you catch the cap securely in your hand and twist it clockwise {the opposite management you would to open up the bottle}, the plastic wrap will beginning to move and then pop right off! Magic!
What do you think?! Which tip exercise you detect nigh helpful? To learn more than and come across these tips in action, check out my video on Facebook! Special thank you to Andy and Chris at Plaid Headquarters for all the cracking insights.I'd beloved to hear your best painting tips…hop over and share them with united states at One Cocked Mama & Friends on Facebook.
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Source: https://www.amylattacreations.com/2017/07/painting-stenciling-tips-from-the-pros.html
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