Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

First, you need a design. You shouldn't feel like you have to be an artist to make one. One of the great things about stencils is that since each print looks the same and consists of only a positive and negative, it makes almost all designs look really sharp and good. If you are looking to turn an image that is not already in solid blacks and whites into a stencil design, you could trace the basic forms and lines and blacken them in, or photocopy it over and over on a high-contrast setting; there are also graphic design computer programs that can do this for you. Remember, you can't have any floating negative space inside your printing area, unless you want to try to suspend the pieces of stencil there with tight string or something.

Next, you need a material to cut into a stencil, one thin enough to cut and carry but durable enough to last. Photocopying shops and other places that do lamination often have large quantities of surplus laminate on hand that you can obtain for free. Laminate is easy to cut into stencils: put it on top of an image and start cutting immediately. Cardboard works, too, though most experienced stencil artists abandon it for materials that are less bulky and more durable. Manila file folders, posterboard, and vinyl sheet flooring are all options. For larger stencils, you can use wallpaper, adding contact paper on the back for more durability. You can also use the plastic boarding on which some pho-

tocopying stores print their larger in-store advertisements, or the advertisement boards slipped into the frames inside subwray cars in some cities. If you are going to be making a really large stencil and desire a high degree of precision, you can use an overhead projector to project the image onto your material while cutting.

When it comes to cutting out your stencil, the sharper and more precise your tool, the better. X-acto knives are the most common tools, though even scissors can suffice. If you are using transparency sheets or some similar plastic, you can cut them quickly with a soldering iron; using the same iron, you can melt them together at the edges to form a larger stencil.

The most usual medium for stenciling is spray paint. Different nozzles provide different paint flows and speeds, which enable you to achieve different effects. Many recommend using matte paint instead of glossy paint. You can also apply paint with a paint roller. When doing so, be careful to apply the roller in the same direction that any little pieces or strips on the stencil extend, so it won't bend them the wrong way. You can design multicolor stencil artwork, in which two or more stencils are applied to the same area; beware, light colors may be lost if spray painted onto dark colors. For precision, it can help to have registration marks built into your image, so you know where to hold subsequent stencils after the first layer. If you are doing multi-stencil artwork in an area that the powers that be would keep art-free, you can lay down several prints of each layer at a time, starting over with the next layer of paint when they have dried, or do the same thing with a partner.

You can use a spray adhesive to stick your stencil to a wall?this will decrease paint leaking around the edges, and enable you to apply it with your hands free?or just use strips of tape to do the same thing. For detailed stencils that tend to be too flexible, you can build little "bones" onto the side from which you spray, to make the stencil more rigid and keep all the parts against the surface you are decorating. When stenciling in

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stenciling 5V

the field, wear disposable latex gloves, and get rid of them before you are stopped, so there is no telltale paint on your hands.

For transporting and applying your stencil, it can help to have it built into the bottom of a shopping bag, backpack, or pizza box: you set the item down on the ground, use the spraycan inside it to apply the paint, and appear from a distance to simply be rummaging around in it. If your stencil has two different color regions, you can build a divider into the bottom of the bag or box, and carry two cans of spray paint in it. Failing that, a small stencil can be kept in a notebook, or plastic bag. A larger stencil can be carried in an artist's portfolio, if you look like the type who might be in art school. Large stencils tend to bend more; it is important that they be kept stiff so they will work.

Chalk Stenciling In many contexts, it is legal or semi-legal to write on the walls and sidewalk with chalk, but not with paint. If you want to avoid immediate legal trouble while still putting up a design, try stenciling in chalk.