How do you correctly use a paint stencil?

There are two things I can suggest: 1) you repositionable adhesive on the back of the stencil (sold as a spray), making sure to press firmly onto the surface, and 2) your brush should almost be dry. Best using a stencil brush, dipped in paint, daub the brush on paper towels will swirling the paint into the brush. Test it out on scrap materials first. At first, you will think you are not painting anything but repeated swirling or dabbing on your piece will begin to strengthen the color. .

Are you taping it down ? Use a round full brush and when it comes to paint, less is more. Be patient and wait until the paint has started to dry somewhat before you carefully remove the stencil and move on .

I absolutely agree with Elizabeth. Stencil adhesive and dry brush. It took me 6 tries before I got my first one right. It took the dry brush and adhesive to get my first one so it looked great. I get best results using stencils on flat paint or dull surface, not on a shiny surface. You can do it!

All the above is excellent advice. What kind of paint are you using? The thicker the better. I like chalk paint as it is always true for me, but there is actual stencil paint but can be very limited. It's almost like clay. But definitely remember that motto about less being more....Better to take a bit longer to get done rather than ending up with a big mess!

I used actual stencil paint and it was awesome! See if you can find that and if not - tend towards a thicker paint AND use a stencil adhesive

Thank you

Thanks great advice