Cut a Grunge Hornet Spray Stencil Kit in Lopsy

1. Choose File → New, set Width 1800, Height 1200, Pixels, White background, and click Create.
2. Click the top ruler at 148, 628, 660, 1140, 1172 and 1652 to drop six vertical guides.
3. Click the left ruler at 118, 578, 630 and 1090 to drop four horizontal guides.
4. Make sure View → Snap to Guides is ticked, so marquees lock onto the guides.

That gives three 480 px columns with 32 px gutters, and two 460 px rows: plates on top, proofs below. Each cell starts exactly 512 px after the one before it, across and down.

1. Click Layer 1, set the foreground colour to #2B2925, press Cmd+A and choose Edit → Fill. Press Cmd+D.
2. Click Add Layer and rename the new layer Grime. Fill it with #808080 the same way.
3. Choose Filter → Clouds…, set Scale to 20 and click Apply.
4. Choose Filter → Add Noise…, pick Mono and Gaussian, set Amount to 30 and apply.
5. Open the layer's effects (the sparkle button on its row) and set the blend mode to Overlay. Close the drawer, click the row's opacity and set it to 35%.

1. Click Add Layer and name it Plates.
2. Pick the Rectangular Marquee and drag the first plate from the top-left corner of the first cell to its bottom-right corner. The edges snap to the guides.
3. Hold Shift and drag the second and third plates in the other two top cells. Shift adds each one to the selection.

1. Fill the selection with chipboard #8E7B5B.
2. Give it some fibre: Filter → Add Noise…, Mono, Gaussian, Amount 14. Press Cmd+D.
3. Add a layer called Proofs. Marquee the three bottom cells the same way, using Shift for the second and third.
4. Fill them with newsprint #D9D1BD, add Mono Gaussian noise at 16, and deselect.

Drag the downloaded photo from your desktop onto the canvas. Lopsy puts it on a new layer and shrinks it to fit the canvas. Double-click the layer's name and rename it Photo.

The photo shows the hornet on its side, head to the right. You'll turn it in a moment.

1. Press Cmd+D to clear the selection the drop made.
2. Pick the Magic Wand. In the options bar set Tolerance to 40 and tick Contiguous.
3. Click the black near the top-left corner of the photo. The ants run around the whole insect.
4. Press Backspace to delete the backdrop, then Cmd+D.

1. Pick the Move tool and, with nothing selected, click Rotate 90° CCW in the options bar. The hornet now faces up, wings spread left and right.
2. A few specks of backdrop dust are still floating around it. Pick the Lasso and drag a loose loop around the hornet, legs and antennae included, staying well clear of its edges.
3. Choose Select → Inverse and press Backspace. Only the hornet is left. Press Cmd+D.

1. Cmd-click the Photo thumbnail in the Layers panel to select the hornet's pixels.
2. With the Move tool, hold Cmd and drag the bottom-right corner handle up and to the left until the wings span about 400 px, a little less than a card is wide. Cmd keeps the proportions.
3. Drag the hornet into the third proof (bottom right). Centre it across the proof, with the antennae about 30 px below the paper's top edge. Arrow keys nudge it 1 px at a time. Press Cmd+D.

The Body plate sprays everything mustard.

1. Click the Photo row. Pick the Magic Wand, set Tolerance to 90 and untick Contiguous.
2. Click a flat patch of yellow on the forehead, between the eyes. Every warm yellow in the photo is selected at once, along with a few specks on the wings.
3. With the Lasso, hold Alt and drag a loop around each wing to subtract the specks.
4. Clean up the edges: Select → Shrink… 1, then Grow… 1, which removes stray pixels. Then Grow… 3 and Shrink… 3, which closes the pinholes.
5. Click Add Layer, name it Body, fill with mustard #D69B1D and deselect.

1. Click the Photo row again. Keep the Magic Wand at Contiguous off, set Tolerance to 70 and click the grey middle of the left forewing.
2. With the Lasso, Alt-drag around the body: an oval around the thorax, then down around the abdomen and the legs. Then, with the Rectangular Marquee, Alt-drag across the top of the hornet to subtract the antennae.
3. Smooth the wings: Grow 4, Shrink 4, then Shrink 5 and Grow 5. The last pair rounds off the wing roots.
4. Add a layer called Wings, fill it with smoke grey #6E7671 and deselect. Because Photo was active, Wings lands below Body, which is also the order you'd spray them.

The black key plate is everything that isn't yellow or wing.

1. Click the Body row so the new layer will land on top.
2. Cmd-click the Photo thumbnail to select the whole silhouette.
3. Alt+Cmd-click the Body thumbnail, then the Wings thumbnail. Each one is subtracted.
4. Shrink 1 and Grow 1 to drop the slivers between colours.
5. Add a layer called Key, fill it with key black #191714 and deselect.

The key's thorax came out square at the shoulders. Trim it into an oval.

1. With the Rectangular Marquee, draw a box across the thorax, from one wing root to the other.
2. Switch to the Elliptical Marquee, hold Alt and drag an oval that just fits the thorax. Only the four corners stay selected.
3. With Key active, press Backspace and deselect.
4. Click the eye on the Photo row to hide it. You now have the three plates' artwork stacked as a finished hornet.

On a real plate the black areas are holes. Any yellow speck completely surrounded by black would be a loose scrap of card, an island, and it falls out as soon as you cut around it. You can bridge an island back to the plate, or fill it in. These are tiny, so fill them.

1. Click the Key row and zoom in on the thorax.
2. Pick the Magic Wand, set Tolerance 0, tick Contiguous and click inside the first yellow speck. Shift-click any others you find. I had six.
3. Grow 1, fill with #191714 and deselect.
4. So no mustard hides under the black, Cmd-click the Key thumbnail, click the Body row, press Backspace and deselect.

1. Click the Wings row. A few loose crumbs of wing sit next to the thorax. Pick the Eraser, set Size to 18 and click each one away.
2. Set the Eraser's Size to 5. For each vein, click at the wing root and Shift-click past the wing tip to erase a straight line. Draw three long veins per wing and a short cross vein or two.

Each erased line is a bridge, a strip of card that holds the plate together. Here they double as the veins.

1. Keep Key active and pick the Text tool. Choose Stardos Stencil, weight Bold, size 58, colour #191714.
2. Click in the empty paper below the hornet, type HORNET SWARM and press Tab to commit.
3. That's too wide for the plate. With the text layer still selected, change the size to 48 in the options bar, and the text shrinks in place.
4. Rename the layer Type. Drag it with the Move tool so it is centred under the hornet, about 40 px below the legs, and nudge it with the arrow keys to finish.
5. Click Rasterize Layer at the bottom of the Layers panel.

1. Choose View → Show Grid. In the options bar, drag Grid to 512px and make sure Snap is ticked.
2. Click the Wings row and choose Layer → Duplicate Layer. Rename the copy Wings 2.
3. With the Move tool, press Left once. Snapped to the grid, one press moves the layer exactly one cell, into the second proof.
4. Duplicate again, rename it Wings 1 and press Left once more.
5. Duplicate Body, rename it Body 2 and press Left once.

The proofs now read 1, 1+2 and 1+2+3.

1. Cmd-click the Wings 1 thumbnail to load the first proof's wings as a selection.
2. Pick the Rectangular Marquee and press Up once. With the grid snapped, the ants jump exactly one cell up into plate 1.
3. Click the Plates row and press Backspace. The wings are cut out of the chipboard, and the dark bench shows through the holes.

1. Cmd-click Body 2, press Up with the marquee tool, click Plates and press Backspace.
2. Cmd-click Key, then Shift+Cmd-click Type to add the lettering. Press Up, click Plates and press Backspace.
3. Deselect and choose View → Show Grid again to hide it.

If you want to compare, undo back through the cuts to see the whole boards, then redo them.

Sprayed paint is never flat. Click each art layer in turn (Wings 1, Wings 2, Wings, Body 2, Body, Key and Type) and apply Filter → Add Noise…, Mono, Gaussian, Amount 22.

Drips go on their own layer, so they never get cut into a plate.

1. Click the Type row and add a layer called Drips.
2. Pick the Brush, set Hardness 100 and colour #191714. Open the brush presets (the tip button in the options bar). In the Shape tab set Size to about 5 and Taper to around 60 for a long run, or 25 for a short one, so the paint thins as it falls.
3. Drag straight down from the foot of a letter, wobbling a pixel or two as you go. Do five or six, all different lengths, plus one from the tip of the sting.
4. Set Taper back to 0 and click once at the bottom of each run to leave a bead.
5. Do two short mustard drips from the tip of the abdomen in the second proof.

1. Click the Body 2 row and add a layer called Chips. With the Rectangular Marquee, draw 30 px squares to the right of each hornet's legs: smoke on all three proofs, mustard on the second and third, and black on the third only. Fill each colour, then add Mono Gaussian noise at 22.
2. Click the Type row and add a layer called Overspray.
3. Cmd-click Wings 1, then Shift+Cmd-click Wings 2 and Wings. Choose Select → Grow… 3, then Alt+Cmd-click each of the three wing thumbnails. You're left with a thin ring just outside the paint.
4. Pick the Spray tool: Size 30, Density 22, Opacity 40, Softness 10. Set the colour to smoke grey and spray back and forth over the wings. Only the ring takes paint.
5. Do the same for mustard (Body 2 and Body) and black (Key and Type).

1. Stay on the Overspray layer. Deselect, then Cmd-click the Proofs thumbnail so the mist stays on the paper.
2. With the Spray at Size 40, Density 30, Opacity 24, trace loose loops: smoke around all three hornets, mustard around the second and third, and black around the third.
3. For the finest mist, draw an elliptical marquee around each hornet and Feather it by 60. Spray it at Size 20, Density 2, Opacity 35, Softness 0, in close back-and-forth passes. The feather fades the mist out at the edges.
4. Pick the Brush at Hardness 90 and click a few single droplets between 5 and 10 px across, as if the can spat. Use smoke, mustard and black, matching what each proof has been sprayed with.

A used plate wears the paint that went through it.

1. Turn the 512 px grid back on. Click the Plates row and add a layer called Plate Paint.
2. Cmd-click Wings 1. With the marquee tool, press Up once. Then Grow 30 and Feather 20.
3. Spray it with the Spray at Size 44, Density 45, Opacity 90 in a darker smoke, #5A625E, back and forth over the plate.
4. Repeat for plate 2 (Body 2, mustard, Opacity 60) and plate 3 (Key and Type, #3A352E, Opacity 60). Deselect and hide the grid.

1. Cmd-click the Plates thumbnail, choose Select → Inverse and press Backspace. That clears any paint that landed in the holes or on the bench. Set the layer's opacity to 85%.
2. Cmd-click Plates again. Spray a few loose, wider passes over each plate in its colour, at Size about 85, Density 20, Opacity 30.
3. Deselect and choose Layer → Merge Down so the paint becomes part of the chipboard.

1. Pick the Elliptical Marquee and drag a 14 px circle 24 px in from the top-left corner of plate 1. Shift-drag another 24 px in from its bottom-right corner.
2. Add the same two circles on plates 2 and 3, holding Shift each time.
3. Click the Plates row, press Backspace and deselect.

1. On Plates, open the effects. Turn on Inner Glow with colour #2A1D10, Size 6, Opacity 55. Turn on Drop Shadow with #0B0A08, Offset 4 / 8, Blur 14, Opacity 60.
2. Add a layer called Cut Walls. Show the 512 px grid, Cmd-click Wings 1 and Shift+Cmd-click Body 2, Key and Type. Press Up with the marquee tool, and fill with #C2A57A.
3. Hide the grid. Press Right three times and Down three times to slide the selection, then press Backspace. A 3 px sliver of raw board is left along the top and left edge of every hole.
4. Deselect. On Proofs, add a Drop Shadow in #0B0A08: Offset 3 / 5, Blur 10, Opacity 45.
5. Add a layer called Pencil. With the Pencil at Size 1 in graphite #55514A, draw a small cross on each proof where the plate's registration holes would land. For each line, click and then Shift-click.

1. Click the Overspray row, just below Drips, and add a layer called Tape.
2. Marquee an 84 × 26 px strip across plate 1's top-right corner. Fill it with #D8C99C and add a little Mono noise (10).
3. Pick the Move tool and drag the round rotation handle outside the box's corner until the strip tilts about 38°, running down to the right across the corner.

1. Press Cmd+D, marquee around the strip, then press Cmd+C and Cmd+V. Drag the copy down to plate 1's bottom-left corner and choose Layer → Merge Down.
2. Select both strips: marquee one, then Shift-marquee the other. Copy, paste and drag them one plate to the right.
3. Give each copied strip its own small tilt with the rotation handle so they don't match, then merge down. Repeat for plate 3.

1. Marquee three 120 × 28 px strips across the top edges of the proofs, off to the right of centre and at different spots on each. Hold Shift for the second and third.
2. Fill, add Mono noise at 10, and deselect. Then marquee each strip on its own and rotate it a degree or two, a different way each time.
3. Set the Tape layer's opacity to 85%.

1. Click the Tape row so new text doesn't restyle anything. Pick the Text tool: Stardos Stencil, Bold, 60, colour bone #DCD2B8. Click above the plates, type HORNET SWARM, press Tab and rename the layer Title.
2. Move it so its left edge sits on the first guide and its baseline sits 26 px above the plates.
3. Click Tape again. Switch to Special Elite at 20 and type 3-PLATE SPRAY STENCIL KIT / SHEET 01 / 1.5 MM CHIPBOARD. Line its right edge up with the last guide and its baseline with the title's.

1. In Special Elite at 17, type a caption for each card:

• Under the plates, in the gutter between the rows: PLATE 1 - WINGS - SMOKE GREY, PLATE 2 - BODY - MUSTARD, PLATE 3 - KEY + TYPE - BLACK
• Under the proofs: PROOF 1 - SMOKE, PROOF 2 - SMOKE + MUSTARD, PROOF 3 - ALL THREE PLATES
• Line each caption's left edge up with its card. Click the Tape row before each new one.

1. In Permanent Marker at 58, colour #EAE2CC, type 01, 02 and 03. Place each in its plate's top-right corner, 48 px in from the edge.

1. In Permanent Marker at 20, write DUST IT - DON'T SOAK on plate 1 and 2 COATS, 10 MIN APART on plate 2, near their bottom-left corners.
2. In Covered By Your Grace at 24, colour #3B3832, write pass 1, pass 1+2 and pass 1+2+3 under the chips on each proof.
3. In Rock Salt at 30, colour #CF3A2B, type KEEPER! and rename the layer Keeper. Give it a 1 px Stroke in the same red to thicken it. Set it on the proof 3 caption line, with its right edge on the last guide.
4. Add a layer called Grease. With the Brush at Size 5, Hardness 80, in grease red #CF3A2B, drag a quick, slightly lopsided loop around the proof 3 caption that overshoots where it closes.

1. Click the Title row and Rasterize Layer. Add Mono Gaussian noise at 26.
2. Click Add Mask at the bottom of the Layers panel, then click the new mask thumbnail to edit the mask.
3. Marquee around the title and fill it with #808080. Apply Add Noise… at 100 (Mono, Uniform), Gaussian Blur… at 1 and Threshold… at 92. The dark specks in the mask hide the paint, so the title looks sprayed and chipped.
4. Click the layer's name to leave mask editing.

1. Click Grime and add a layer called Bench Paint. With the Spray at Size 110, Density 12, Opacity 22, Softness 50, mist a little bone around the title. Then, at Size 120, Density 6, Opacity 80, Softness 0, flick a few short splatters of mustard, black, smoke and bone into the margins.
2. Click Tape and add a layer called Coffee.
3. Pick the Brush with Hardness 60 and colour #5A3A1E. Draw a ring about 130 px across on the lower right of plate 1, in three separate arcs with gaps between them. Make the lower-right arc the heaviest (Size 7) where the coffee pooled, and the others thinner (4 and 3).
4. At Size 2, drag a faint partial second ring offset up and to the right.
5. Apply Gaussian Blur… at 1, set the blend mode to Multiply and the opacity to 60%.

1. Click Keeper and add a layer called Dust. Fill it with #808080, apply Add Noise… at 100 (Mono, Uniform), then Threshold… at 236. Set the blend mode to Screen and the opacity to 30%. Only the white specks show.
2. Add a layer called Vignette. Draw an elliptical marquee from just inside the top-left corner to just inside the bottom-right. Choose Select → Inverse, fill with black and deselect.
3. Apply Gaussian Blur… at 180, set the blend mode to Multiply and the opacity to 55%.
4. Choose View → Show Guides to hide the guides, then File → Quick Export PNG and File → Save Project.