Punisher Stencil (stencil Island Pieces)

Hello there! Today I will be giving a brief, and simple lessons on how to do stencils which include islands, or areas inside the shape, that aren't painted over. This method is for single colored stencils, but can be used for multi color with masking (I may do one in the future if enough people would want to know how)

First thing you need to do, is find out what design you want to use. For my project, I was working on a prop shotgun for my friends Punisher cosplay, and decided to add his logo to the gun. On this the design, the eyes and nose holes in the skull are the islands.

Now you need a physical copy of the design. You don't need to sketch it out like I did, you can print it, but since my design was small (1.5inX2in) I sketched it to avoid the pixelation. After I drew it up, I traced it on to the key component of this method...

Contact paper, is awesome. Contact paper is simply a vinyl sheet, with an adhesive backing. The same thing used to give things an artificial wood look, or even carbon fiber, since it can be printed on (although not with inkjet printers; it will smudge). Blank white contact paper is the best to use, since it will show up your design the best. The design on the contact paper is simply traced on to it from the other one

This is the shotgun I'm putting my design on. Prepping the surface is easy, make sure the surface color is the color you want the background and islands to be, and wipe it off from any dirt or dust, and make it dry.

Once the surface is ready, remove the backing on the contact paper, and place it down one piece. Try to avoid any bubbles or folds around the design. You can press it flat with your finger, but be warned the pencil will be smudged slightly, but nothing too bad. (Side note, DO NOT use pen or marker on contact paper, it will run like crazy).

Cutting is pretty self explanatory. Use a fine razor or exacto, and just take your time cutting out the areas you want painted.

If you're working on a surface you don't want to have cuts in, or can't put cuts into. The best way to avoid this, is to just trace the lines. Which I didn't do, just because the scratches would matter much here. Also, when you have a section you need to remove, just use your blade to lift it up and off, but be slow just to make sure you don't lift the wrong pieces

Once you're ready to paint, mask off as much of the sides on the template as you can. Then mask off an additional 2in, just to be sure.

Paint the color you want, simple.

And just like that the design is done. Wait for your paint to dry fully, then slowly remove the stencil (sadly they aren't perfectly reusable). Once it's done clear coat it just to make sure your design last. Then lastly, step back and admire your work. Thanks for reading!