Free template, mask, and stencil material

[fontgeek]

Looking for good, durable material for making your own stencils, masks, or templates? Look no further than your trash or recycling bins!

The plastic from 1/2 gal. and gallon beverage containers works great! Its waterproof, so it won't get soggy with use, it's easy to cut with a knife, razor, or scissors, and it can be shaped with a hot hair drier, heat gun, or boiling water to meet your needs for compound/complex curved areas.

The plastic from 2 litre bottles can also be used, though it will probably need to be flattened using heat for most of your needs.

The waxed cartons from milk or juice also gives you a waterproofed material to cut or tear shapes from. While not as durable as the plastic from the bottles or jugs, it can give you nice organic edges when torn rather than being cut.
Those oranic edges are great for creating clouds, mountains, etc.

The cardboard from cerial boxes, 12,24, and 36 packs of soda or beer also work well for creating temporary stencils, masks, or templates. You can cut or tear them easily, and the tearing can give you wonderful edges it would be next to impossible to get if you tried to cut them. They will last you for a bit if you use them a lot, the wetter you get them the shorter the lifespan. Great for shor term needs, and no clean up is needed on them when you are done!
Want to make them so they'll live longer?
Give them lots of light coats with a spray enamel (rattle can) on both sides, the enamel acts as a water proofing agent. you don't want to soak them with the paint, you just want enough of a coating to seal them and to have a consistant enough coating to keep the moisture from your regular paints out.

You can punch holes in all of the above with a standard hole punch, a rotary hole punch (normally used for leather), punch and die sets, or scrap booker's craft punches, these come in a variety of sizes and shapes, so you can get a variety of textures in clean cut shapes.

Old, used up gift cards/store credit cards and charge cards make great durable material for small hand held templates or freehand masks. While they are tougher to cut, they are rigid enough to not flap or move with the air/wind pressure from your airbrush or spray gun. These work great for making small texture templates or circle templates. You can punch holes through them using the punch and die sets, or rotary punch. You can drill holes through them for a particular placement or diameter with your wood or metal working drills. Keep the speed down on the drilling, too fast and you can melt the plastic with the heat from the friction. Not good.

[minniemouse]

All very good!! In fact this is such a Great Thread, lets make a list,,, tell us what you use from around the home!
I use Granny's NET Curtains for snakeskin/crocs and dragons! All those tiny holes, scalloped on the bottom - make it quick and easy.
I also use the straight no holes part for material, for detail under flags etc!

[AndyW]

Yoghurt pots if you drop in boiling water go flat again, nice thin material for cutting. Although just taken a new view on some of them to use like "dixie cups".

[fontgeek]

Those cheap, big, flexable cutting board sheets make great templates, masks, and stencils. They're probably about a 30mil material, so delicate shapes and such will be difficult to cut, but the durability factor and rigidity make them wonderful materials for this kind of thing. I use and supply them to my students during classes so that they don't cut my tables to pieces when doing stencils and masks, when the mats get too beaten up to use for smooth cutting, they go into the supply bin for future templates.

For the plastic materials you might be able to use a stencil burner, I haven't tried it, but it might be worth a go.

Old hair combs and brushes can be used to act as templates for doing hair or fur.
Stainless steel flea combs work great for adding the fine grain of wood onto paintings too. You can do mild swipes with the airbrush while dragging the brush in the direction of the grain of the wood, and you can use them as scraping tools if you use the scratch method of working through one layer to get the the layer(s) below, it gives you nice tight spaced fine lines and the combs are very durable and easy to handle.

Lace and paper doillies are an easy material to shoot through for transfering that samp pattern to your work.

Shooting through various net materials used to hold fruit and vegitables (SP?) can do wonders for creating scales or cobblestone textures, and stretching them using an embroidery hoop makes them easy to handle and lay flat on your project.

Cheesecloth can be distorted to get wild varieties of textures. Getting it wet, then doing the distortions with the cloth while it sits or lays on a sheet of glass or smooth flat surface, lets you get the finished shape you want. Using a spray starch or cheapo hairspray on them while they are distorted and dry will let you keep that distorted shape for use as a template of stencil when painting, and again, you can hold the finished piece in an embroidery hoop, or you can use a heavy cardboard frame, and fasten the material to that for ease of use.

[uscgboatie]

Try going to the local vets office and ask if they have x-ray film. I asked and now have so much I wish I never asked and if you were close you could take it from me by the pound.....but if you get some dip it in 10% bbleach water and it will turn clear with a slight blue tint. its always best to ask at the Vet because of the privacy laws

[Oddball]

I use clear laminate pockets for stencils, you can use them as a single page or run them through the laminator and get double thickness.
I also use feathers that I pick up when I'm walking the dogs, they are great for fur & feathers.
Cotton wool pulled out into whisps make fantasic cloud masks, just spray a little and move it a bit and spray again, the 3D effect builds in no time.

[fontgeek]

Looking for a good model for the ripped metal look?
How about sacrificing some aluminum cans?
You can remove the top and bottom with a pair of scissors or snips, and use the remaining sheet to punch a hole through, or, if you want a bigger model, use several can's worth of aluminum, and do your tearing along your pick of edges, then staple the various pieces down to piece of scrap wood or cardboard to make as big a "hole" as you wish. The beauty of using the aluminum is that it's easy to cut and work with, you already have it, and it won't rust up on you. You can model it to whatever shape or level of distruction you like, then take photographs or sketches of it from your chosen angle with your chosen lightsource. It will show you realistic highlights, reflections, and shadows for the shape and size you want!
If you are going to do this, be careful, some of those edges can be sharp!
Take lots of photos from various angles and light sources. They can help you in the future for other projects.

The plastic from large (1 Gal. or larger) jugs of soap or detergent can also be used for making templates, stencils, and masks. The various plastic caps can also be helpful as templates or masks, or as small paint pots if you are striping or working with a hairy brush.

The cheap plastic ice cube trays work great as portable paint pallets for use with a hairy brush or airbrush, you can place paints in wells/cubes a few spaces apart, and use the intermediate spaces/wells for mixing/blending colors as needed. You can clean the paints out in the dishwasher, or put the trays in the freezer, once frozen you can pop the disgarded paints out like you would ice. If you want to save the mixes for later use, you can cover the trays with a cling wrap celephane to keep them from drying out. If you are using urethane paints, you may find it cheaper to just chuck the used trays into the recycling bin. In the States, these trays go for 2 or three for a dollar. These trays work great for face painting too!

[sharonsstudio]

Lets see.. I use thin wire for hair you can bend for the flow.. I use my hand thumbnail and other parts of my hand for a shield..
Q tips for bird feathers, tooth picks for the pointy feathers,
for metal practice I cut a soup can or vegie can so I can lay it flat and hammer it until it's flat then prime base coat etc..
I use christmas cards for stencils.. they hold up for a few jobs..

[fontgeek]

Those foam "paper plates" work great for short term stencils or templates. Easy to cut, they don't get waterlogged, and they are usually rigid enough to hold up to the air pressure from the airbrush.

Those heavy advertizing postcards and old campaign posters work well for making templates and freehand masks.

[work it]

Every once in a while I run across the clear plastic sleeves (used at Kroger, Wal-mart and various other stores) they use for advertising specials. They're a thicker plastic and a little harder to cut but last forever.

[fontgeek]

Look for the used "FOR SALE" and "GARAGE SALE" signs that get left on street poles after the sale has passed. Those make good materials for doing templates, masks and stencils. You'll be cleaning up the streets and saving yourself some money too!

[fontgeek]

The rigid (not celephane) plastic from cookies, baked goods, and other store bought food items can be cut easily with scissors, razor, etc. and it holds detail wonderfully.

The small plastic cups and lids for salsa, salad dressing, etc. from casual and takeout restaurants are great for mixing and storing most paints, and holding paint for pinstriping and working with hairy brushes in general.

Wooden stir sticks for coffee work well as stir sticks for paint too!
They can also be used as hand held masks or mask supports when airbrushing.

[fontgeek]

The cardboard from those nice, heavy FedEx and postal envelopes is great for making temporary stencils, masks, and templates.

The corks from empty bottles of wine are good protectors for scalpel and Xacto blades, they're also good for keeping batches of push pins safe and together when not in use.

[Oddball]

The cardboard from those nice, heavy FedEx and postal envelopes is great for making temporary stencils, masks, and templates.

The corks from empty bottles of wine are good protectors for scalpel and Xacto blades, they're also good for keeping batches of push pins safe and together when not in use.

I like the cork idea, so far I vote that one the best (and safest as well) :)

[fontgeek]

If you have a diabetic in your family or friends, chances are pretty good that their test strips come in durable, watertight little containers that are perfect for storing blades, nozzles, pushpins, magnets, etc.
A lot of the fun with the corks is building the collections of them (hick), the more you drunk (hick), the more corks you get. ;}

[Oddball]

PMSL at "Hic!" :partyalone:
This tip is for pinstripers, (but could be used to transport scalples), If you smoke cigars (the one's that come in tubes), or know someone who does, they make fantastic pinstripe brush storage containers! I use neoprene, but cork or foam would do to make a plug which is glued into the cap with a cross cut in it. the handle is pushed into the X-cut and the tube is held upright with "Blutac" :)

[fontgeek]

Cotton wool that comes in bottles of aspirin and such works great as masks for doing gauzey looking halo effects such as clouds, mists, fog, etc. It can be held by hand, push pins, magnetsor using a light shot of repositionably adhesive.

Oddball, Good idea on the tubes!
Unfortunately, I don't know anybody who smokes cigars.
I think the neopreme is probably the best for doing the cap holder bit though.
I think that the cork wouldn't take that kind of abuse for very long (compression, decompression from having the handle inserted and removed), and would start breaking apart, the foam I would worry about the breaking down from exposure to the paint thinner, mineral spirits, or neat's foot oil.
I was looking at some of the hard plastic clamshell type cases from VHS (video) tapes to use as containers/holders for my brushes, I figured if I fastened some springs stretched across the interior that it would let me insert the handles of the brushes between the windings of the coils. The case itself gives a nice, sturdy case that's easy to pack and deal with, and the availability on them is vast at the moment. As fewer and fewer people are using tapes, the cost keeps dropping on the stuff that goes with them.

[onecrofly]

ive asked for restaurants old menus, usually the cover is rigid enough and plyable to cut my templates out, and they are usually clear.

[harleyman]

I've found that going to Walmart and searching through the school supplies section has clear page dividers 8-1/2 X 11 5 pages for $1.89. On the thick side but work great and cheap.

Harleyman - out

[sweet loretta]

ahhhhhh........cotton wool - what a thought! def gonna give that a go.

I like leftovers of strawberry baskets, and the plastic mesh bags off oranges and hams, also scrapes of gutter guards for a large diamond shape and some plastic backings found on the backs of central air or furnace air filters for squares and honeycombs.

Alsonot free but fun foam in the kiddie craft section is easy to cut and find in a pinch. And they come in big shapes good for templates on shirts and.... and teaching newbies.

[work it]

Wow...an old thread, but a goodie. It's been a while since I've posted so lets see if I can make it useful. When I'm mixing colors I've started using syringes. I keep a variety of sizes at hand and have found them to be the perfect container. They're neat, efficient, and don't allow for exposure to air. I don't think they would hold up to uro's, but since I only use E'tac they're perfect.

[JimmyG]

sure agreein' with ya Work it....eye dropers work well but not as accurate as syringes....

[sharonsstudio]

Great Bump!!!
I have found Note books make a great sample book when you are trying to figure out how things are going to work or look. and you can keep it for a Referance it's all contained in one spot.