Create Textured Art With Stencils

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Create beautiful textured art with just stencils and joint compound. These amazing textured designs only take a few minutes to make!

textured art with stencils

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Working with stencils and joint compound (sheet rock putty), creating textured wall art is a simple process that can be completed in an afternoon. It is a simple technique using readily found materials. Create beautiful art for your home!

This is Suzy from Suzy’s Sitcom. Ten years ago, when I first created my website, this technique was one of my very first tutorials. I used a much simpler stencil in order to create a faux textured chair rail for one of my bathrooms. The project was a huge success, and that beautiful bathroom was one of the selling points of our home when we eventually put it on the market.

I decided to revisit this technique and create something totally different. In my stash are some 12″ mandala stencils that I purchased last year and did a project here on Kenarry.com for Decorative Painted Stepping Stones. I decided to reuse those stencils to create some beautiful textured wall art.

Create Textured wall art with stencils

The supplies for this project are simple. Most home supply stores carry the joint compound. You would want to purchase the ready-to-use. No mixing is necessary and it makes the project that much simpler to complete.

3 blue blocks with textured art made from stencils

I also used 12″ wooden canvases. Wood is not necessary for this project to be successful, in fact, you can add texture with the joint compound to most anything.

All-purpose sheetrock and acrylic paint

What you need: 

How to make textured wall art:

3 blue blocks

1. paint the canvases

Choose your background color. This will be the color that contrasts the design of your stencil. I chose teal. Most dark colors would work well. Black would be a wonderful contrast to the white of the joint compound!

Paint the front and all four sides of the canvases and allow them to dry before going to the next step.

Canvas with a pile of stencils on top

2. Choose the stencils

For this project, I used 12″ mandala stencils. You can see that I have used these stencils a few times already. Apparently, I’m a bit partial to the color teal…

Any stencil will work for this process as long as they are plastic stencils.

Painted stencils

Lay the chosen stencil on top of the canvas. Use a couple pieces of tape to attach to stencil and prevent it from moving around during the next step.

A tub of sheetrock compound

3. apply joint compound to the canvas

The ready-mixed joint compound is amazing to work with. It has the consistency of peanut butter and spreads just like it.

Adding sheetrock mix to the painted canvas

Lightly spread the joint compound using a knife. Cover the entire piece, being sure to not move the stencil.

Spreading out sheetrock on the canvas

Use a flat edge to lightly smooth the top of the joint compound. Nothing fancy here, in fact, I used an old gift card for this!

Textured art with sheetrock

Carefully remove the tape holding the stencil down and gently lift the stencil off of the canvas. So pretty!

Floral textured art on blue canvas

Allow the joint compound to dry for about 2 hours. The finished project will make a beautiful addition to your decor!

Create beautiful textured DIY wall art with just stencils and joint compound.  This amazing homemade art is an easy craft and only takes a few minutes to make! #kenarry #ideasforthehome

This technique has so many possibilities. Consider it for adding texture and design to your walls or furniture. With the variety of stencils available, there is so much that you can create!

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Love working with stencils? 

Here are some more stencil projects that you might be interested in, including the original project idea for Faux Textured Chair Rail from Suzy’s Sitcom!

Create a Faux Textured Chair Rail with Joint Compound

How to make your own Stencils!

Create Pretty Stenciled Bird Houses!

You may also enjoy these 3 stencil ideas on Ideas for the Home by Kenarry® –

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2 Comments

    1. Hi Sara,
      Great question! You can add colored paint to joint compound to give it color. This post on DoItYourself.com will give you some great tips. One thing to keep in mind is that the joint compound will automatically lighten the color of your paint so you choose a paint color that is a little darker than your desired color. Also, be careful not to thin the joint compound too much or you may cause it to run under your stencil.

      Hope that helps! Suzy and I would love to hear how your project turns out – and to see photos.

      Happy crafting!

      Best wishes,
      Carrie
      Ideas for the Home by Kenarry

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