Stencils

Stencils

BANKSY

Jef Aerosol

Blek Le Rat

Edgar Mueller

Shephard Fairey

Stencils allow you to repeat identical images.

Stencilling allows you to create an image quickly.

Stencilling is a printing technique.

To make a stencil you cut holes in a sheet of plastic, card or metal. Ink or paint is then applied to the surface through the open spaces. Sometimes a sponge or stipple brush is used.

You can buy stencils for lettering which are useful for headings. These often break letters into sections so that the centre of closed letters is not lost.

For example becomes if it

was not split into 2 halves the centre circle would be lost and

would fall out.

GraffitiGraffiti used to be just vandalism or a mark of territorial warfare – youths used to spray paint their ‘tag’ or gang name in public areas where

they socialise.

The government labels Street Art as ‘vandalism’, but it is growing in

popularity and is now being recognised as a form of Art by galleries and

collectors.

Artists like Banksy have made graffiti and Street Art popular.

Street Art

They often play with perspective...

BANKSY IS A STREET ARTIST FROM BRISTOL IN ENGLAND. HIS REAL

IDENTITY IS UNKNOWN!

HE CREATES STENCILS OF HIS DESIGNS

WHICH HE THEN SPRAY PAINTS ONTO

BUILDINGS, BRIDGES, STREETS AND WALLS

ALL OVER THE WORLD.

Banksy

The subject of his Art is politics and current issues –

his work is often very controversial!!

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Banksy

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1Graffiti vandalism

illegal streets canvas walls

spray paint anonymous

notorious ordinary political message statement tag gangs Police

Blek Le Rat

He was born in Paris. He was one of the first graffiti Artists in Paris, and has been called the pioneer of Stencil Art.

He has been traveling in the 70s, and saw ‘Tag’ graffiti for the first time in New York City… this inspired his work. He decided that he wanted to create his own style of graffiti using stencils.

Blek Le Rat

He began his artwork in 1981, painting stencils of rats on the street walls of Paris, describing the rat as "the only free animal in the city", and one which "spreads the plague everywhere, just like street art".

His name originates from a childhood cartoon "Blek le Roc", using "rat" as an anagram for "art".

Blek is credited with being the inventor of the life-sized stencil, as well as the first to transform stencil from basic lettering into pictoral art.

Blek's identity was revealed to French authorities in 1991 when he was arrested while stenciling. Now he stencils posters and then puts the posters up around Paris so that he can apply his Art to walls more quickly so there is less chance of him getting caught!!

He has had a great influence on today's graffiti art and "urban art" movement; he wants to bring Art to the people.

He created a range of images of homeless people, which depict them standing, sitting or laying on sidewalks, in attempts to bring attention to what he views as a global problem.

Blek Le Rat’s Stencils

Jef Aérosol Jef Aérosol is a French stencil graffiti artist. He

has been one of the main urban artists in France since 1982.

Jef

Aero

sol

Shepard Fairey

Frank Shepard Fairey is an American contemporary graphic designer and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene.

He became very famous for his 2008 campaign poster for Barack Obama in the US Precedential Elections.

OS GEMEOS GRAFFITI

Edgar Mueller Street Artist

Hutch

Andy Warhol

Used a silkscreen stencil to create his portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor.

A stencil is made from paper, cardboard, or other media to create an image or text that can easily be reproduced.

The design is cut out and the image is transferred to a surface through the use of paint or spray paint.

The process of stenciling involves applying paint across a stencil to form an image on a surface below. Sometimes multiple layers of stencils are used on the same image to add colours or create the illusion of depth. Those who make and apply stencils have many motivations. For some, it is an easy method to produce a political message. Many artists appreciate the publicity that their artwork can receive. And some just want their work to be seen. Since the stencil stays uniform throughout its use, it is easier for an artist to quickly replicate what could be a complicated piece at a very quick rate, when compared to other conventional tagging methods.

John Fekner Wheels Over Indian Trails 1979-1990. Pulaski Bridge near the Queens Midtown Tunnel Spray paint on concrete. Long Island City,, New York..An anticonsumerism stencil.Stencil graffiti subculture has been around for the last thirty years. John Fekner is one of the first artists to place his work outdoors, starting in 1968.[1] Fekner's stencil Wheels Over Indian Trails greeted motorists and international travelers arriving in New York City at the Pulaski Bridge Queens Midtown Tunnel from 1979-1990. The message remained untouched for 11 years, until Earth Day 1990, when Mr. Fekner, feeling the piece had run its course, painted over it.[2]Famous French artist Ernest Pignon-Ernest's stencilled silhouette of a nuclear bomb victim was spray painted in the south of France in 1966 (Plateau d'Albion, )[

Hugo Kaagman from Holland started graffiti in 1969 and spraypainted his first street stencil in 1977.Blek le Rat's first spray painted stencils were seen in Paris in 1981 and Jef Aerosol started in Tours in 1982.They continue to work outdoors. Le Rat was influenced by the graffiti artists of New York City but wanted to create something of his own.Stencil on bikeway in Seville (Spain).Australian photographer Rennie Ellis documented some of the earliest examples of stencil art to appear in Sydney and Melbourne in his 1985 book The All New Australian Graffiti. In the introduction to the book, Ellis noted that US photographer Charles Gatewood had written to him and sent him photographs of similar stencil graffiti that had recently appeared in New York City, leading Ellis to speculate that:"... unlike our subway-style graffiti, which is nothing more than a copy of a well-established New York tradition, the symbols of Australia and America had originated separately and unknown to each other.”Over the years this form of graffiti has become a worldwide subculture. The members are linked through the Internet and the images spray-painted on the urban canvas they place throughout the world. Many of its members connect through blogs and websites that are specifically built to display works, get feedback on posted works, and receive news of what is going on in the world of stencil graffiti. Stencil graffiti is illegal and many of the members of this subculture shroud their identities in aliases. Above, Jef Aérosol, Bride Campaigne Blek le Rat, Vhils, 157, Aslan, Skeczh, and Shepard Fairey are some names that are synonymous with this subculture. As for local stencil artists, they are fairly veiled and are hard to reach.

EXAM Starting Points

Choose your favourite 3 Artists from these resource sheets and create a research page on each.

Choose your favourite piece of Street Art / graffiti and recreate this on a large scale piece of paper.

Design a stencil for your name and cut it out using a craft knife. Apply colour using the stencil using spray paint or by stippling (dabbing) paint through the stencil with a sponge.

Design your own Graffiti ‘tag’ – what would your gang name be? What colours/ style would you use?

Think about a political or cultural issue that really annoys you – how could you represent how you feel about this by using one image? What would the image be of? Design an image to get your message across. Create a stencil to apply this to your canvas / paper. For instance, Blek le Rat felt strongly about Art being available to everyone rather than just wealthy or educated people. So he used the symbol of a rat to show that Street Art can get everywhere in the City, just like a rat.

Choose a portrait of a celebrity or a modern icon – create an image of their face using stencils. Simplify the image to light, dark and medium areas. Look at the portraits of Andy Warhol.

Homework

Find examples of street art and present as a creative research page in your sketchbook

Due in:

EVALUATION1. How do you create a stencil? (C Grade)

2. How do you create an image through a stencil? Silkscreen print, stipple paint with a sponge or paintbrush,spray paint… (C Grade)

3. How have you incorporated stencil techniques into your work? (C Grade)

4. Has your stencil worked? Strengths / weaknesses (C/B Grade)

5. Which Artists is your work inspired by? (C Grade)

6. Street Art often conveys a political message. What message does your work convey? What are you trying to say through your Artwork? (A/B Grade)