Sampling of Print application using Stencils

Following on from my last post i felt that the idea of adding a print inspired by the modern patterns on the fish would make an interesting sample, that i could develop to use on my piece. however as i had used techniques such as Dry point and Screen printing on previous projects i wanted to test other tool such as stencils and an Air brush to apply the paint/ink to further challenge and develop my skills. as i had already got these tools at home this was an achievable method.first i created the stencils of the fishes patterns using blown up primary and secondary images of the fishes i liked. below are photos of these fishes and the acetate stencils created.

I then cut some sample pieces of both calico and chiffon to test the stencils on, focusing on just two fabrics and designs to begin with and as the design where quite complex and the acetate was difficult to cut through.  below are the results of the not so successful first attempts.

 This process was quite difficult at times as it was time consuming to make the stencils and my first test where not successful for a number of reasons such as, the paint was too watery causing it to run under the stencil, and many layers needing to be applied to get a strong even coat, the acetate caused the paint to run of it as it was plastic, again as a result of the watery paint and the chiffon didn't take the paint well unless it was thicker fabric paint. however once i had gotten thicker fabric paint i found the stencils worked well on the calico fabric and alright on chiffon, however i have concluded that chiffon doesn't take well to applying paints or inks.

better results shown below, some of these samples i have also sewn into using the sewing machine to give an extra textural Finnish.

I like this method and it has expanded my skills and knowledge of print technique application  even though its was difficult at first, and if done well can be a quick and easy , effective method of applying a print as it is fairly cheap and can be produced at home. it is also a method i would use in the future however i feel for this project i would probably use the screen printing method as it is a more guaranteed and less time consuming in some ways application of print.