Custom Stenciling Business OverviewSpecializing in custom stenciling is a fantastic low-investment business you can start and manage right from a home based office. In the past few years stenciling has once again become a popular interior decorating art medium. The uses vary from decorative wall borders to creating beautiful patterns on cabinet doors to sprucing up that old vase or fruit bowl.
Deciding to start a custom stencil business can prove to be a lucrative venture. Stencils are an easy way to create one of a kind designs on just about any surface from walls to clothing by placing the stencil on an item and filling in the design with paint or other textures. There are many designers and decorators across the country who could be potential clients of your business.
Getting Started
To get started all you have to do is practice. There are many how-to books and videos available that'll teach you specific secrets and methods about creative stenciling. I've included a few tips below, but you'll want to do some research and studying in addition to the few tips I've given you.
1. Create a business plan. This a necessary tool to help you chart how you will market your unique stencil designs, debt financing, and classes needed to keep your design skills sharp as you start a custom stencil design business.
2. Consider an online business when you start a custom design stencil business. You can show off your stencil design using an online gallery and it'll be easier to maintain than a physical store giving you global appeal. You might even want to think about creating a Yahoo Stores. You can customize it to showcase your work, and sell your stencils and/or services.
3. If you're unsure of your current abilities, you may decide to outsource work by hiring additional stencil designers or a web designer. However, if you feel confident enough to do it all yourself, you can save a lot of money on start-up costs in the beginning.
4. Establish an effective marketing plan to bring in specific stencil business. When you start a custom design stenciling business you could consider setting up an affiliate-marketing program to encourage complementary, established businesses to promote your custom stencils for a small commission. Mom and pop home decor shops and small business shops that sell paint could be ideal.
5. Obtain the necessary software, screen printing machines or other equipment needed to create custom stencils for your business, if you don't want to take the time and expend the effort to create them by hand.
Equipment & Materials
Basic materials that will be required include:
- paints & textures
- various sizes of paintbrushes
- additional paint applicators
- predesigned stenciling templates
- masking tape
- rags, sponges etc.
Warnings & Considerations
- Consider consulting an attorney and accountant to keep taxes, contracts and other legal matters in order.
- Take advantage of any business courses offered online or at your local community college to help you succeed when you start a custom stencil business.
- Avoid listing standard prices for your services. Your business is offering custom designed stencils. Since every design is custom made it would be difficult to set standard pricing.
Stencils are an inexpensive and easy way to transform just about any surface, from walls to clothing. They're also a great tool for teachers and parents looking for creative ways to spend time with their kids. If you can draw or are patient enough to learn how, you could easily start an online stencil business. Again, Yahoo Stores makes this very, very easy and affordable.
What You'll Need:
- Website
- Design software
- Stencil cutter
2. Enroll in an art class that teaches stencil design. Contact your local community college or art school to find a course.
3. Select a memorable domain name for your business. Then purchase your domain and website. Look for a web host who can provide instant, 24-hour customer support and helpful tutorials on how to set up your website. Look for a web host who can offer you free Google Adword or Yahoo credits, Facebook integration, free templates, plenty of bandwidth, storage space and email addresses and marketing tools such as newsletters, coupon generators and data feeds.
4. Design your stencil site. If you don't want to use a free template but you aren't familiar with Hyper-text markup language (HTML), consider hiring a web designer to help you. Ask around at your art class. You may be able to hire a student for much cheaper than you would a professional. On your site, detail the many uses for stencils. Provide pictures of walls, floors, flower pots, canisters, signs and vases that have been decorated using your stencils. Offer helpful videos. Allow customers to create their own stencils for a fee.
5. Purchase stencil brushes, stencil sheets, tubes of acrylic paint, paint kits, stationary and books to sell on your site along with your stencils, as well as custom cardboard packaging materials. Purchase a laser cutting machine that will work on the materials you intend to sell, such as glass, wood, acrylic, metal or plastic. Features to consider are the work area your cutter will accommodate, the desired thickness of your stencils and the production rate.
6. Find your niche and begin creating your stencils. Create stencils for use in home décor, as cake toppers, or for commercial use. Design intricate stencils for use as borders or exquisite décor. Incorporate letters, numbers, animals, plants, vegetables, fruits, flowers, prints, patriotic symbols, baskets, hearts, stars, space, holiday and seasonal themes, colonial, French country or Victorian designs.
7. Contact local paint and craft stores about selling your stencils in store, in exchange for a percentage of the profits.
Warnings & Considerations
- Once your business takes off and you've leased a location, consider holding art classes to help supplement your income.
- When first starting out, you may be able to store the majority of your equipment and supplies in a large garage. However, as your business expands, it may be a good idea to rent space, particularly if you intend to hire employees.
- Consider starting a blog where you give stenciling advice and offer a handful of free, printable stencils. Put links to your online store on your blog.
Stenciling is a very arduous task. It requires a lot of hard work and determination. It also requires concentration and focus. Unlike other art forms, stenciling is a very personal art form where in an individual gets to choose his or her design and make her own design too.
Stenciling started with the stenciled patterns in caves. It proliferated with the advancements and initiatives of the Japanese and Chinese. Other cultures like the Europeans and Romans helped in the spreading of the art form.
There are many forms of stenciling. These include wall stenciling, graffiti stenciling and furniture stenciling. Stenciling is used in decorating and expressing yourself. You'll need to ehance your knowledge of stenciling before starting your home based custom stencilling service. Here are some tips that can help in ensuring a quality results.
1.) Use a proficient tool – choose your equipment carefully. Brushes for stenciling have short and firm bristles. They are also round. These characteristics of the brushes will prevent paint from seeping into the edges of the stencil.
Other equipment recommended are sponge and small roller.
2.) Start working from the outside towards the middle. This method will stop the paint from seeping under the edges.
3.) Don't put too much paint on the brush. This'll create a messy output. Dip the brush into the paint lightly. Dab the brush with a piece of paper or cloth if there's an excess of paint.
4.) Apply coats individually. Dry the first coating first before applying the second one. Apply paints thinly. It's better to have a first and second coating than a thick one.
5.) Tape the stencil to avoid it from slipping down or to avoid spaces between the stencil and the surface. Tapes with low tacks are the best materials to use for this procedure.
6.) Use colors to make your stencil design beautiful. Cover the areas with tape when you don't want them to be included in a particular color that you are applying.
7.) Practice everyday. Practice applying the paint and using your brush. Study your design carefully and practice it on other surfaces.
8.) Clean regularly. Clean the surfaces where you'll be working. Clean the brushes that you'll use. Cut your stencil cleanly. Keep your stencil free from any paint. Paint on the edges will damage the outcome of your design. Clean your brushes in between the application of different colours and layers. After cleaning your brushes and stencil, let them dry before using them again.
9.) Keep the stencils flat. Put it between two pieces of cardboard, book or anything that will hold the design flat.
These are some of the things that you should keep in mind before beginning any project/job.. There are other things to do but these few tips are the most fundamental and basic.
Stenciling is a great art. It gives the artist a lot of choice when it comes to design, equipment and materials. Yet, it is only great if you perfect the art and spend time learning it.
How To Make A Stencil
Want to know how to make a stencil? It's fun to create a pattern from a picture you love and have the ability to reproduce it again and again. It's easy too!
Let's say you found the perfect image and want to make it into a stencil. Well, there are many ways to make a picture into a stencil, and depending on the image, various ways to best create a stencil. So, let's explore a couple of options.
First you need to decide if your image will work best as a Single Overlay Stencil or a Multiple Overlay Stencil. If your image is intricate or complex, say like a multi-petalled rose, you may want to use several layer to get the best effect.
However, if you have an image of three balloons that you'd like to turn into a stencil, a single layer would suffice.
So, what do you want your stenciled image to look like? Do you want a silhouette or ghost of the image? Are you looking for a simple picture with one or few colors that has little detail? Or do you want a final image that has more of a hand painted look?
It might help to look at your image in a different way. How much detail is in the image? And how much detail do you want to keep for your stencil? You need to try and visualize your image as if it were broken down into layers – maybe by colors or maybe by shadows versus light areas. Needless to say, the fewer the details the better the image for creating a stencil. At least, when you are just starting out.
The best images for how to make a stencil have high contrast with few variations. What does that mean? Well, in order to create a stencil you need to break it down into sections and the more color variations and shaded areas the more complex your job.
How To Make A Stencil - Single and Multiple Overlay Designs
I should tell you this, Single Overlay Stencils are less work when it comes to stencil painting but can be a little harder when it comes to designing. Take a good look at both options before deciding and then take another look at your image.
Okay, let’s say your image is a black and white photo. That’s pretty easy and takes a lot of the guess work out of it for you – it will work best as a Single Overly Stencil.
So, you've taken a good look at your image and decided that you want to keep the detail and you really desire the hand painted look. Great! A Multiple Overlay Stencil will get your where you want to be. You'll be making stencils with Multiple Layers which is the next step of learning how to make a stencil.
After you've designed your own stencil and really put some work into it you'll want to preserve it for future use. Or maybe you want to use it multiple times. Click here to get some stencil making tips and techniques for preparing your stencils for permanent use. There are a couple of options to do this. You can use a verathane coating, a wax coating, or cut your stencil into a thin sheet of mylar or acetate instead of paper for multiple use or permanent stencils.
When looking for a material to make stencils you’ll want a product that can accept ink without smudging or pooling.
Remember that a glossy finish will not accept ink and will cause paint to run (and seep under your stencil). So I would highly recommend a product that has a matte finish on both sides.
For all of its usefulness, acetate does cause a few headaches — ink that won't stay, a yellow or grayish cast as it ages, edges that curl.
Grafix Dura-Lar is the acetate alternative. It combines the best features of Mylar® and acetate, and offers a variety of products so that you can purchase the film that suits your needs precisely. It is always consistent in color and overall clarity, and won't discolor with age. Dura-Lar is archival quality, safe for overlaying artwork, and it lays flat. It will remain dimensionally stable for as long as you need.
When learning how to make a stencil you'll find that there are many options for the materials to use. In fact, I've heard of people using report covers or clear transparencies. Again, I'm trying to give you as many ideas so that you can experiment and find what works best for you!
Blick Art Materials has a large supply of stencil making materials including the Dura-Lar acetate alternative products.
You can find acetates in rolls or sheets, colored or clear, matte or glossy and even adhesive backed. Experiment until you find the one that works best for you.
Here are a few tips for cutting out your stencil. Rotate the stencil with one hand while you continue to cut in as straight a line as possible, steadily and gently pulling the blade towards you. This will keep your wrist in a more comfortable and natural position and give you more control so you don't make mistake cuts. Twisting your wrist to cut along a winding line is more difficult.
A Final Note
A home based custom stenciling service is best marketed by way of referral or word-of-mouth advertising. It may take a little longer to establish a client base this way; however, the extra time will enable you to gain valuable stenciling practice and experience for your new home based custom stenciling service. If, on the other hand, you take your business online, then you have many more options and avenues for building your custom stencilling business.
This is a very creative business, and one that requires patience and expertise. Learn it well before taking on any large project -like someone's livingroom or an office building. The more you practice the better you'll get, and the better you get the more enjoyment and satisfaction you'll dervice from your home based custom stencilling business.
Additional Resources
Dick Blick Art Materials
Stencil Creation Equipment
I hope you found this business idea and overview helpful. Remember, whichever business you choose, don't forget to have fun with it.
Until tomorrow,
Terry
