Wolter Stencil

Stencil or stencil art is a term for graffiti or street art that is applied using stencils. Rather rarely, the French term pochoir is used, although the technique initiated by Blek le Rat found artistic use in France for the first time on a larger scale.

Unlike freehand graffito, stencil requires the making of stencils. These are usually made of cardboard, but also of plastic or laminated paper and - more rarely - of metal or wood, and are then suitable for frequent repetition of a motif. Complicated and large-scale artifacts are mounted on thin mesh. The combination of different stencils allows multi-colored motifs.

Nowadays, the combination of multi-layer stencils (multi-layer stencil) can be done computer-aided. For this purpose, the practice of digital layering is used, for which image processing programs on the computer are used. The goal and function of digital layering is to divide a motif into meaningful layers and color sections so that an entire motif, a composition, is finally formed when the layers are overlaid.

For the application of the paint can be used in addition to the spray can also stub brush / stub brush, oil chalk and airbrush. In reverse graffiti, paint is not applied through the gaps in the stencil, but the wall is selectively cleaned of dirt using a high-pressure cleaner, for example.