I stencil for two reasons. One, because I don't particularly like the imperfections in my handwriting and two, because I could "color-in" letters all day.
Using a recent altered book spread as an example, I'll show you the steps I take when I stencil.
First I decide on my word. Words have power, so choose carefully! Then I double-check my spelling. Then I choose the set of stencils I want to use based on size and font style. Typography is it's own art form and there are lots of tastes out there. People not only mix up font size, but style as well. That only works when the rules of kerning have been followed.
Kerning is simply the amount of space between letters in a word. Sounds simple, but because each letter has it's unique shape, you can run into hassles if you don't look and play a little bit before committing to your font style. The basic rule is: consistent, very little space between the letters within a word and then more space between the words themselves. Thatshow you dontendup confusingyour audience. It's how we know when to stop reading one word and start reading the next. Of course there is a lot of fun stuff you can do with overlapping, but it takes a lot of play and practice. Study graffitti artists for the coolest ideas!
Depending on what I'm creating, I either trace inside the stencil with a pencil or I use a permanent marker and let the lines show. The problem with permanent markers being used intitally is that they're hard on your stencils themselves and if you own the vintage "cardboard" style they can start deteriorating. I treat the ones I can't replace with care, and don't stress about the rest.
In this example I flipped the stencil upside down and traced a shadow. It's a shadow here because I painted it black. Fill in your "shadow" with scrapbook paper that looks like water and then you'd have a reflection. Paint it silver and you've got a mirror reflection. Whatever. You can do this many different ways or even with unusual angles. You could even get really wierd and pick a different 4-letter word that "fits" the feet and bellies of the letters and make it's shadow have a different message. (wooahhh hahhh hahhh - evil laugh).
Here is what it would have looked like if I had chosen to flip or tip the upside-down word:
Any way you've decided to do it, you've now got the basic composition of your piece layed out. The place where the letters meet make a natural horizon line. I decided to "mask off" the page at the top with a large piece of paper and
stamped a pattern all over beneath it. This made a new horizon line higher up on the page. I don't know if a person is allowed a couple horizons, I just thought it made an additional interesting layer.
The last trick I have for stenciling text is to simply pick one side of the letters or the other to emphasize. You can choose either a contrasting color OR you can choose a coordinating color and "shade" the letters. The trick here is to remember that you don't just shade the "right side" of every letter. You need to shade the "right outside" of every letter as well as the "right inside" of every letter. (If that makes any sense)!!
I'm sure like anything, there are lots of ways to do this. This is simply the way I enjoy playing with words. The most important part is to have fun. I used to think it was also important to be able to read the message. Now I'm wondering if that actually is so important. Maybe it's also cool to sometimes be mysterious and make things illegible or confusing.