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Are you searching for design inspiration for your next stencil project. Or perhaps you need some pictures to use as reference material for a particular stencil design?
Check out this list of invaluable online resources that I personally use to get my creative juices flowing when looking for a new Stencil theme, motif or design to explore or develop into a new product.
Most of the resources I have outlined below, are Vintage or Antique. To the best of my knowledge, art and design created prior to 1914 is in the public domain. Please take note that the photos and illustrations of the original artwork are the property of the copyright holder.
The way I work is essentially to redraw by hand a design that I like using the online photos as a reference. I then scan in my redrawn artwork and develop it into a stencil using my favorite tools of trade, Photoshop and Corel Draw.
Some of these sites are very extensive, and you can literally spend months browsing through thousands of antique posters, engravings and artifacts.
This list is by no means exhaustive, and I am continually making notes of new keywords I can “Google” to source new areas of decorative art and design that could be useful for my projects.
Antique Prints Posters and Engravings
Fine Rare Prints
Antique prints and Posters
Rare Antique prints on Animals, Marine, Birds, Botanical, Military and Classical themes
The prints on this site are genuine and some date back to the 17th Century.
This is one of my favorite sites, not only because of the large detailed pictures but also for working out color schemes for stencil designs.
Panteek
Antique Botanical and rare Antique prints
Another very extensive site with categories for botanical, Insects, Mammals, French fashion, American Indian, Vases, Stately homes, Herbal, Decorative arts, Engravings, faces of history, Japanese, Mythology, Reptile etc
Original Prints… up to 300 years old ….Large pictures
Steve Bartrick- Antique Prints and Maps
Antique Prints and maps
This site has a searchable archive and over 9,200 old maps and prints to browse.
http://www.antiqueprints.com
French Engravings
Old prints and Antique Engravings
Another one of my favorite sites,
Searchable catalogue.
Categories: Animals and plants, Art Objects, Asian, fashion, costume, maritime, architectural ornament, mythology.
http://www.french-engravings.com/
Museums
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Huge archive of pictures from their vast collection. You can literally spent days on this site alone
Browse by time line, geographical region or thematic category.
Works of art from all regions of the world and time lines.
Vintage Fabrics and Textiles
Fabrics and textiles are an excellent source of design inspiration
York Fabrics and Textiles
This site boasts a collection of over 1,000 vintage and antique textiles: weaving’s, tapestries, embroideries and kimonos from Japan, China and Europe.
A feast for the eyes.
http://www.yorkeantiquetextiles.com/
Kathleen Tayler The Lotus Collection
Fine antique textiles tapestries and Pillows.
A leading source for decorative antique textiles in the United States
Photographs of Tapestries, Wall hangings, table covers, European and Asian Textiles
Large pictures.
http://www.ktaylor-lotus.com
Cora Ginsburg LLC
Exquisite & rare works of art from the 16th to 20th century.
Cora Ginsburg is a collector and dealer, associated with fine and rare costume and antique textiles since the 1940s. Besides her Manhattan gallery, Cora Ginsburg LLC collects, consults and appraises for museums and private collectors in North and South America, Europe and Asia. A beautiful and inspirational site, well worth the visit.
http://www.coraginsburg.com
Textiles as Art
Antique Textiles, costumes, Shawls. Ancient Textiles from Turkey, Persia, France and Asia.
Beautiful pictures. A treasure-house of inspiration.
http://www.textileasart.com
Vintage Wall papers
Second Hand Rose
A collection of rare and unusual wallpapers from around the world.
http://secondhandrose.com/paperr/main.htm
Chinese Papercut
China Art World
The Chinese also the “art of paper cutting” around 386-581 AD. Scissors or sharp knives are used to cut out Intricate patterns in paper. The paper cut outs were traditionally used to decorate houses during festivals and even used as hair ornaments by women. Paper cutting is not dissimilar to stencil cutting insofar as common design issues like islands and bridges need to be addressed in the planning phase of the design.
http://www.chinaartworld.com.cn
Vintage and Antique Tiles
Tile Heaven
The greatest selection of antique tiles on the internet.
Tiles from the arts & crafts and aesthetic movements, art Nouveau tiles, majolica tiles, transfer printed tiles, hand-painted tiles and many more unusual tiles, mostly from England and from the period 1860 - 1930.
Yes this is one of my favorite sites too.
http://www.tile-heaven.co.uk/
Solar Antique Tiles
Awesome collection of original and reproduction tiles dating to the 16th century from Europe.
collection of antique Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, English and Islamic tiles,
Many of these tiles have been salvaged from buildings and palaces, dating from the 16th century up to the early part of the 20th century.
http://www.solarantiquetiles.com
Comments Posted
I am always looking for inspiration - not just for stencil designs - and this is a wonderful list. My current project is focused around the art nouveau style, but I will definitely be bookmarking this valuable resource you have compiled. Thankyou
Cool stencil resources… Will definitely bookmark, thanks
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