Paint & Mandala Rocks
Using Mandala Stencils for Dot Painting
Guideline stencils can take your art to the next level. Like most of us, if you struggle with placement, give these mandala stencils a try. We offer two sizes — 6” x 6” and 10” x 10” – that can be used with canvas or rocks from small sizes up to 12” x 12”. Prepare the rock or canvas with the base paint of your choice.
For rocks, center the stencil over the rock. Adjust from top to bottom by keeping your guidelines equally spaced from the edge of the rock.
Do the same for the side to side guidelines. Chalk as many or as few of the lines as you think you will need.
With a canvas, use these suggestions depending on the size of your canvas compared to the size of the stencil.
For a canvas the same size as the stencil –6″ x 6″ or 10″ x 10″ – line the stencil up to the corners and chalk the guide lines you need.
When the canvas is larger than the stencil, follow these directions:
Place the stencil in the first corner of the canvas, and chalk in the diagonal line.
Move the stencil to each of the other corners, and draw those diagonal lines.
Move the stencil to the center of the canvas and line up the diagonal stencil slots with the lines you chalked (see arrows above). This keeps your lines square on the canvas rather than rotated and off-center. Slide the stencil up or down to center the guides vertically. Lastly, if needed, slide the stencil right or left to center the stencil horizontally. Check to make sure you can still see the diagonal chalk lines in the diagonal slots.
Once you have everything lined up and centered, chalk the lines you want for your painting.
If your stencil is larger than your canvas, center the stencil up and down and side to side. Line up the corners of the canvas in the diagonal slots to keep the stencil guidelines square and not rotated on the canvas. Chalk any lines you want to use for your dot art.
After you have finished painting and your art is completely dry, clean off any remaining chalk marks. Wet cotton swabs with points work great. A tiny paint brush or one of your tiny dotting tools can be used to apply more of the base paint color to hide any stubborn chalk spots.