Custom Edges for Artwork/Photos

[Juz]

1. Place your artwork/photo on a layer
   
   
   
   
2. Create a new empty layer above the artwork. This new layer will be a template for our stencil.
3. Using Black paint go ahead and paint an area which will become your stencil. Use tools for the edges that give you the edge quality you're seeking eg/ glitter tool, sticker sprays, chalk, watercolour.
4. Paint the interior with a solid black using black paint, ink or marker. In my example I have used a custom sticker spray for the edge and black oil paint for the interior.
   
   
   
   
5. Right-click the layer on the layers palette and choose 'New Stencil from Layer Contents'
   
   
   
   
6. Right-click on a solid red area of the newly created stencil and select 'Invert The Stencil'
   
   
   
   
7. You can now either turn off visibility on the top layer or delete it.
   
   
   
   
8. Select your artwork layer again and move the stencil to place it where you want it.
9. Grab a large eraser with a hard edge and remove all of the artwork around the stencil. If you have semi-opaque edges on your stencil like in this example you will need to take the eraser right up to the solid area of the stencil.
10. Right-click the stencil and either hide or remove it (NOTE: remove will get rid of it so if you want to use it again it’s a good idea to use the 'Store Stencil in Collection' option).

[Juz]

Finished Artwork/Photo with custom edges

[screenpainter]

awesome Juz. cool idea. I used your grunge stickers for the stencil layer. Double the Juz effect. Thanks for both.

[Juz]

Thanks very much for trying it out and showing the results here GZ, much appreciated

[MSIE]

thank you Juz

first ArtRage crashed right after the stencil was created (of course not your fault!), so I took a screenshot



but after being able to recover the painting I had fun and got carried away ... ... sticker spray, chalk, ink pen, airbrush, eraser, and drop shadow script

[Juz]

Wow MSIE, great to see someone taking the principle and running with it. Well done!!

Now that you understand the process you can apply it to any area of a painting to create crazy edges on crazy stencil mask shapes.

Thanks for uploading your efforts here so others can see more possibilities.

[Juz]

In the following example of some foliage, I painted some dark olive solid loose areas, then did the leaf detail by dabbing with the stipple brush from my beginner oils .ARpack.

I then used the same stipple brush to create my stencils and erased areas to reveal the underlying sky layer.

[cripster]

Hi Juz i just tryed the stencil idea of your and heres what i came up with, i'll do better with more time lol

[Juz]

This is an excellent first go Graham. The paint roller has given you some great effects. Thanks so much for contributing to the thread.

The way you've framed the face lends a lot of character to the piece. Like the subject is peeking out at us.

Forgive me for taking artistic license with your artwork, but when i saw those beat up grudge edges I couldn't help but think how nicely they'd work with sepia (vintage style) photos.

[Juz]

Alpha and stencils

Just a quick example to demonstrate how different opacity levels on your tools affect the result.

Here I have circles which range from 100% opacity down to 10% opacity in increments of 10%.



Here is what the created stencil looks like



And here is the result of using the eraser with the stencil on a paint area