pochoir

Pochoir is a refined stencil process used for creating colored prints or adding color to illustrations. It is a highly developed form of stenciling, often referred to as hand coloring or hand illustration.12

While ordinary stenciling involves passing ink or paint over cut-out designs, pochoir is a more intricate technique. Artists like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse utilized pochoir for book illustrations and prints. The primary challenge with stenciling is that designs enclosing other shapes are difficult to cut without the inner part falling out. However, this can be overcome by using overlapping stencil halves or by employing a fine mesh screen coated with a substance like glue, which allows color to pass only through the open areas. This screen-based method is known as screenprinting when used for fine art prints.2