Arts & Crafts Stencilling

By W.G. Sutherland

Book Overview

In the Arts & Crafts tradition, decorative stencilling -- on walls, pillows, draperies, or furniture -- is made accessible and fresh with these classic stencil patterns from the Arts & Crafts period. Using time-tested techniques, decorative stencil painting can be applied to every room in the house. With plant and flower patterns for the kitchen, formal ornaments for the living room, animals and bugs for the family room, children and ducks for the nursery, and sea life for the bathroom, they can also be mixed and matched to suit a particular taste and d cor.

This treasure trove of Arts & Crafts stencil patterns is based on articles originally published in The Journal of Decorative Art. When W. G. Sutherland first published this book back in 1910, it was intended for the professional decorator. But today's do-it-yourselfer has skills that far surpass the imagination of Mr. Sutherland in the early twentieth century. Turn-of-the-century methods are described thoroughly and give an excellent background in the art of stencilling for ornamental detail. In addition to discussing supplies and preparations, Sutherland shares trade secrets for managing corners, applying continuous borders and friezes, and working up ceiling treatments and "all over" patterns -- all the while working efficiently and quickly.

Arts & Crafts Stencilling is the perfect companion for a bungalow update or for a contemporary Arts & Crafts-style home.

W. G. Sutherland was a British sign maker and decorative artist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was a frequent contributor to The Journal of Decorative Art, published in Great Britain.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586852523
• ISBN13: 9781586852528
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
• Length: 92 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.5" x 0.2" x 8.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

Detail is the Key

This book is a wonderful piece of instruction and source of pattern! Lots of detailed how-to information and a wealth of stylish forms, with suggestions of how to combine them to create your own individual designs for large as well as small projects. A really excellent source.

Inspiring ideas, and good for brainstorming

As the information on the book flap says, this book was first published in 1910 for the professional decorator. "Today, Sutherland's time-proven methods give do-it-yourselfers a thorough education and an excellent background in the art of stencilling for ornamental detail." All that is accurate, I think. The book does a great job of explaining how to think about stencilling a room or window, and the author also has a good sense of humor. There are lots and LOTS of symbols and figures, though many of them are fairly small so you'll have to blow them up with a photocopier. How helpful is it? While I appreciate the overview, and it helped me understand the process, our tools have (thankfully) improved since 1910! I'm probably going to read another book on basic stenciling before I start decorating my living room -- but I probably will be satisfied with a library book. (There are some black-and-white line drawings in Sutherland's book, but no how-to color photos.) I think this one will be the one I'll turn to, over time, for actually _doing_ the work rather than learning the basic skills. The author was clearly involved in the Arts & Crafts movement, so this is as authentic as you can get. The patterns and motifs are absolutely lovely (assuming you like Arts & Crafts, bungalow, and Mission style as much as I do), and there are plenty of "Oh cool, I hadn't thought of that!" suggestions, such as for ceiling treatments, that make me glad I bought this book.