Cut some sponge foam into small pieces of 1 x 1 inch sizes. You’ll need each sponge foam piece for each color. 

Select an art paper for the mermaid stencil art, which should be larger than the mermaid stencil size. Place the mermaid stencil on the prepared art paper.

Dab a sponge foam piece against the colors on the tray. Press against any color, even if 2 or 3 colors get mixed a little, don’t worry about, it’ll create a nice shade. 

Hold the stencil against the art paper tightly and dab the colored sponge on the paper, along the outer side of the stencil. 

Continue to dab the sponge on the paper and try tracing the shape of the mermaid stencil by dabbing paint all around the open side of the mermaid pattern. 

Once you are done tracing the open side of the mermaid pattern, you can use paint to fill the other parts of the art paper. Try to fill the whole paper with paint but carefully and tightly hold the stencil against the paper while painting. 

Try taking off the stencil while the paint is still wet but be really careful in this step. Clean your hands first and then take the stencil off carefully. 

Allow to dry and frame.