STENCILS: ISLANDS & BRIDGES

"Islands" and "Bridges" are the two main components of a stencil - Islands cannot exist successfully WITHOUT Bridges (if you want to be able to reuse your stencil over and over). Follow the steps below to practice creating shape stencils that have Islands and Bridges.

1. Collect the necessary supplies:
- Cutting Mat (cardboard, mat board, etc.)
- Piece of Construction Paper
- Pencil
- Eraser
- X-acto Knife

2. Draw a basic shape:
Draw a simple shape on one-quarter of your piece of construction paper.

3. Cut on your lines:
Using the X-acto knife, carefully cut along the line(s) you drew.

4. Draw/trace the same shape:
So that you can see how adding "Bridges" affects a basic shape, trace the paper shape that you cut from the main piece of construction paper, draw a smaller version of your shape inside the traced shape, and add bridges.

5. Cut on your lines:
Using the X-acto knife, carefully cut along the lines you drew, making sure not to cut across the bridges.


** you can stop here, or move on and play with more complicated shapes.

6. Draw a complex shape:
Draw a simple shape on one-quarter of your piece of construction paper.

7. Cut on your lines:
Using the X-acto knife, carefully cut along the lines(s) you drew.

8. Draw/trace the same shape:
Trace the complex paper shape that you cut from the main piece of construction paper, draw a smaller version of your shape or smaller shapes inside the traced shape, and add bridges.

9. Cut on your lines:

Using the X-acto knife, carefully cut along the lines you drew, making sure not to cut across the bridges.

Glue or tape your practice stencil onto a page in your sketchbook.