A millenarian art that started being used as a graffiti art type on the early 80's, when Blek le Rat aka Blek created his first piece in Paris, France. His main motivation being social consciousness and the desire to bring the art to the people.

Nowadays Blek is considered the godfather of stencil art and big influence for the other artists such as banksy one of the greatest stencil artists of all times. Using his pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics on the streets of England, once said "every time I think I’ve painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only twenty years earlier" today his art is well known all around the globe. And stencil graffiti just continues to grow every year and it's still being used to approach topics such as politics to bring a laugh to the streets of the world.

The most amazing thing about stencil art is the way this type of art interact instantly with the viewer, and using the stencil on it's favor the same artwork can be displayed in numerous places at the same time without a problem.

Blek - France

Blek le Rat is considered the godfather of stencil art. He studied painting and architecture. He began his artwork in Paris in 1981. Since then he has had a great influence on today's graffiti and "guerilla art" movements, his main motivation being social consciousness and the desire to bring the art to the people.

Banksy - England

Banksy is a well-known pseudo-anonymous British graffiti artist. His art has appeared in cities around the world. Banksy's work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. His artworks are often-satirical pieces of art on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics.
"People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly." Banksy

Alexandre Orion - Brazil

Born in Sao Paulo Brasil, Alexandre unites photography and graffiti, His stencils demonstrate a wonderful sense of humor and ingenuity, but it is his photographs that are his final artistic statement, bringing his art to life.

Today there are so many artists that it's hard to keep a track of all the work there is on the streets of the globe but here is a cool selections of really good works following the old school stencils.

l.e.t. - Germany

s0t - Iran

Erykah Badu - France

REDLOCK - UK

adres.81 - Portugal

Alto Contraste - Brazil

With a mix of old school stencils and the swing of the Brazilian graffiti Alto Contraste (high contrast) is created by the Brazilian couple Lee & Lou, and together they bring a colorful way to express their art on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil in the old form of stencils.

C215 - France

One of today's most impressive and can also be called the new school of stencil comes from France, represented by french artist Christian Guémy aka C215 that has traveled the world spreading your art in form of stencils.

After this super dose of inspiration it's time to get out there and try your own self how it feels to interact with people with your art.

Here is a quick tutorial:

How To: Stencil Graffiti Art 101