Outdoor Stencil Art

So simple...but so genius! I am overly excited to share this stencil art with you. : )

If you haven't heard, Collect.Make.Explore. will be teaching a couple of Land Art workshops at the upcoming Reeds and Roots Earthskill Sharing Event. I'm anxious to explore Camp Whitewood, in Windsor, OH, to see what kind of natural materials and land art scapes the grounds have to offer. As much as I love to react to the land and make art based on the spur of the moment, I feel as though in a workshop setting I also should have a few "tricks" up my sleeve. One of those topics is stencil art.

I've been very inspired by the book, "Land Art Around Town" lately. So much so, that I've featured it in "My Little Earth Shop". Check it out, you won't be sorry that you did. Tons of images to pour over. All accessible and easy ways to access art-making and get you thinking about simple yet creative ways to get your littles outside and connecting with their environments in whole new ways.

To start stenciling, as pictured in the book above, all you need is some cardboard and scissors. I used the sides of an old tissue box, but use whatever you have on hand. I drew out a star, square, and question mark and cut them all out to make the stencils. You can also use store bought stencils if you have them! Alphabet stencils would be great too. So many possibilities here...

I'm sure everyone is familiar with stencils. But it took me a few tries to get the outdoor stencils working with ease. So let me share what I've tried and you can take it from there. Like I said, we've just started experimenting with these, so i'm sure we will be having a lot more fun coming up.

I realized quickly that finer grained / looser materials worked very easily for little hands. Chalk, also an excellent choice. But chalk when drawn over a layer of sand ~ even better! We also experimented with blades of grass and while less exact, gave a very interesting texture and effect to the shape. Subtracting from the stencil also produced some fast results. Simply hold the stencil down on top of a layer of material and wipe away the excess inside the stencil to achieve this negative space.

To create a sand "chalkboard", aka a re-usable stencil surface outdoors, follow the steps below.

First place down a thin layer of sand on a hard smooth surface. Think, driveway, sidewalk, smooth slabs of rock. We placed an indoor / outdoor mat next to our work area so we were comfy. The wonderful thing about putting a layer of sand down first is that it is very easy to "erase" and start again. With a swipe of the hand, you can clear your workspace so to speak, as the sand mixes beautifully with all the chalk, dirt, grass, and whatever other materials you decide to work with! Surprisingly when you brush your hand or a large dry-erase eraser over the surface it clears really well and is ready to reuse instantly.