So rather than watch tv last nite, I went to my studio for a few hours to make some prints. Earlier in the day I purchased some archival sheets of paper that are about 18″x24″, about $1.90 each.  If you want to make some art for your walls rather than stencil your walls, this is a fun project. To do prints like this, you will need stencils, ink sprays, a stencil brush, cardboard, and scrap paper.

So I laid out a canvas tarp to catch any overspray and piece of cardboard to allow the paper to lay flat. I knew I would mostly be using my Stencil1 Sprays to make the print. These are fabric inks that are acid-free and archival. They are also non-aerosol! I had two very different concepts, one being a colorful explosion of stencils and the other more of an anti-war poster. What can I say, I’m a Gemini.

Stencil1 print

Archival print by Ed Roth of Stencil1

Archival Print by Stencil1

Archival print by Ed Roth of Stencil1

It’s a quick and easy process. I basically placed my stencils where I wanted them, masked out the areas outside the stencil so my overspray would paint my paper, I used scrap paper, and then sprayed lightly into the stencil area. When done with one stencil area, I carefully lifted the stencil up, still keeping it level with the surface so no excess paint on the stencil surface would drip onto my print. To get the excess paint off the stencil you can place a piece of paper on top of the stencil to soak up that excess paint, and in doing so you are also making a reverse print on that paper! That’s a tip from my gal pal Elaine.

As for the lettering in the banner in the war print, I did use a stencil brush and our Old English Stencil letters. What’s nice about doing lettering with the stencils is the mylar we use is semi transparent so you can see exactly where you want to align your type.

I proceeded to place stencils where I thought they would look nice, choose different colors, and continued this way. Creating your own composition is the fun part! Symmetrical or not, color choices, placement, it all comes from you.

So If you decide to make some poster prints using our stencils, please send us images and we wil post to the blog! Thanks!


Stencil1 has come full circle, we are proud to announce our first book with Chronicle Books!
Stencil101: Make Your Mark with 25 Reusable Stencils and Step-by-Step Instructions comes out in October and will include, you guessed it, 25 stencils and 9 how-to projects including how to stencil a cake and how to stencil windows. PRE-ORDER NOW CHRONICLE BOOKS>



Amy Sedaris took part in the BUST Craftacular and I was there to stick my fat head in this picture and get her book I Like You autographed. I told her about Stencil1 and she checked out the stencils and said she liked the Pine Branch. I pegged her for more of the retro stuff, who knew. Anyway, she looked hot and was being insane and funny. And her book is genius, quite the bang for your buck. Yay.

Polaroid photo credit: Jason Rodgers


I have to share this artists paintings with you all. His name is Marcus Jansen and he’s brilliant. Marcus asked me to license my stencil imagery for use in his truly amazing paintings. I don’t usually license but he is so talented I had to! See what he’s made here, can you spot our stencils in his street landscapes?