The Way I See It # 566: Stencil Attempt # 1

I've been playing around the idea of tattoos for a while, and I've been thinking about creating a stencil for a Henna tattoo in order to try something out. The only problem is, is that the design I want to try out is much too complicated with shading, etc, to work in henna. So I've been playing around with simple lines, and black ink.

Creating the stencils have been both time consuming and frustrating, as I've been making them out of paper.

I had some free time tonight, so I attempted to cut out the image of 2 cranes, but I actually ended up drawing most of it free-hand.... and upside down.

Here's the result, the picture quality definitely helps in covering up some of my mistakes.


I used water-proof liquid eyeliner, which actually holds up fairly well for a couple days if you don't scrub at it excessively. However, the application is tricky, and it's easy to over apply, and an unsteady hand is probably the most trouble you'll come across.

There are surgical pens you can buy online, which I've heard are good for stenciling, as they don't rub off easily. The only problem is that they're surgical grade and are expensive. I think I'm going to sit these out.

I'll have to go back to the drawing board, I think.