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Unlocking Texture and Precision: How to Use the Stencil and Structure Tools in Rebelle

A digital painting application interface is shown, featuring a colourful abstract background with fluid, marbled patterns in purple, yellow, blue, and green hues. In the center, bold white stencil-style text reads "STENCILS & STRUCTURES" over a semi-transparent dark rectangle. The application displays tool panels on both sides, including brush settings, watercolour brush options, colour palettes, and layer controls.
The background of this was made using the Structures tool, watercolour brush and the tilt tool to move paint around within the structure of a stone pattern. It’s a bit chaotic, but it shows what’s possible when you combine movement with the Structures tool.

Take your digital paintings to the next level with these two powerful features

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If you’ve been using or thinking about exploring Rebelle’s brush engine and paint flow features, it’s time to dive a little deeper. Today we’re looking at two underrated—but incredibly useful—tools that add new layers of realism and control to your digital paintings: the Stencil Tool and the Structure Tool.

Whether you’re after crisp masked shapes or realistic surface texture, these tools give you more control over both what you paint and how your brush interacts with the canvas.

The Stencil Tool: Precision Meets Creativity

A digital art application interface displays the word "STENCIL" in large, bold, uppercase letters. The text appears in a light texture against a dark, rough, wax-like background, resembling a scraped or smudged surface. The interface shows pastel tools on the left, including brush settings and pastel brush types, while the right side contains a color palette and layer management panel. The overall aesthetic suggests the use of digital pastels or wax textures to simulate traditional media.
You guessed it! I used the Stencil tool to create the text for this. I used the pastel brush type to create the masked out textures in the letters.

The Stencil Tool in Rebelle works just like a traditional painter’s stencil—you place it on your surface, and only paint inside the cut-out areas.

What You Can Do with It:

  • Mask parts of your canvas to add clean shapes, details, or patterns

  • Spray or dab through the stencil using brushes or airbrushes for a textured effect

  • Layer multiple stencils to create complex designs or compositions

Features to Know:

  • Preset shapes are built in—grids, circles, symbols, and more

  • You can import your own stencil images (black and white PNGs work well)

  • Stencils can be rotated, scaled, moved, and even used with multiple brushes at once

Pro Tip: Try loading a watercolour brush with pigment and just a little water, then paint through a stencil for a beautifully controlled wash with softly blended edges.


The Structure Tool: Add Depth Without Colour

While the Stencil Tool controls where you paint, the Structure Tool changes how your paint behaves on the canvas by adding texture and relief to the surface itself.

Rebelle has an art surface engine which the brush tools and paint respond beautifully to, but Structure can be used in combination with art surfaces to add even more texture. Think thick oil brushstrokes that actually look and behave like they’re on a canvas texture.

Why Use It:

  • Emulate the look of canvas, cold press paper, or plaster. 

  • Enhance oil painting with impasto-like depth

  • Add subtle texture to pencil, pastel, or dry media

Features to Explore:

  • Paint structure directly onto your canvas or import structure maps

  • Depth and intensity sliders control how noticeable the texture is

  • Rebelle’s brushes respond differently depending on the structure—more grain means more grip!

Pro Tip: Use structure subtly on underpaintings to add dimension. It makes final brushstrokes feel more tactile—even digitally. For artist’s interested in experimental textures, you can also try using natural stone textures like marble, agate, jasper or septarian stone to add structure to watercolour washes using the water brush and tilt. I love doing this. By using a variety of colours, results from the blooms and flowing paint through the stone textures are absolutely stunning!

A digital painting software interface is shown with an abstract artwork open in the canvas area. The artwork features large, dark organic shapes resembling cracked or dried flower petals, radiating from circular centers. These shapes are surrounded by vibrant, marbled colors including teal, purple, yellow, and blue, with fine vein-like lines tracing through the composition. The interface displays watercolour tools and brush options on the left, and colour palettes and layer controls on the right.
This is an abstract composition using a septarian stone pattern on top and a more subtle abstract pattern underneath. I used the water brush and water spread without tilt to add movement within the pattern. Structures can definitely be used in much more subtle ways as well.

Final Thoughts: Endless Possibilities

Both the Stencil and Structure tools offer something unique: one gives you cleaner control and precision, while the other gives you depth and tactile realism. Try combining them for even more creative effects—like stenciled shapes with built-in surface texture!

These tools are especially useful for artists who love mixed media, pattern design, illustration, or traditional-feeling oil and watercolour work.


Want to give it a try?
Explore Rebelle and take advantage of the 30% Bloom with Art sale before April 30, 2025. Let these tools inspire new ways to paint with precision, texture, and personality!

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Digital artist and graphic designer, Teresa Cowley

My name is Teresa Cowley, and I'm a digital artist and graphic designer from Vancouver Island, Canada. I focus on abstract and fantasy art as well as digital collage, and like to utilize AI art tools as part of my design process to create new, innovative pieces of art. I strive to create new, unique designs that tell imaginative stories, and I am eager to push the boundaries of what can be expressed with art and technology.

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