How is silk-screen printing related to stenciling?

Silk-screen printing is a sophisticated evolution of the stenciling technique. While traditional stenciling involves cutting designs into materials like cardboard or metal, it faces a structural limitation: designs that enclose another shape are difficult to execute because the inner piece would fall out.12

Silk-screen printing overcomes this by using a fine-mesh screen as a support for the stencil. Instead of relying on physical cutouts that might detach, the stencil is glued to or created directly on the mesh. The screen acts as a web that holds all parts of the design together, allowing for greater artistic freedom and complexity.12

In this process, areas of the screen are "stopped" or blocked with glue, lacquer, or photographic emulsions to prevent ink from passing through, effectively creating a stencil on the mesh. A squeegee is then used to force ink through the open areas of the screen onto the printing surface. When artists use this method to produce fine art prints, it is often referred to as screenprinting.12