Something you seem to get with stencils that you don’t get as much with freehand work is a slight randomness and fitting in with a location, placing them in a way that suits the context in an interesting way.
So thanks to Atlantic Jaxx for sending this one in, a Bob Dylan stencil on the side of the old Aust ferry terminal, a place made (relatively) famous by his visit there many years ago.
Bristol graffiti 
Good freehand painting is ALLL about fitting in with locations,
its just really easy to with stencils….as they are really easy to do.
Y’dig?
Yeah, fair point, the emphasis is on the ‘good’ though really. Stencils also have the advantage of scale in many cases, but there’s a difference between visual gags (a la Banksy and all) and, well, more ‘arty’ stuff.
Surely theres an art to cutting a good stencil too, and an art to getting yer arse out of bed to impliment the idea, just as much time is taken with stencils, its just that the work is done at home.
A fair amount freehand work is derivitive/dull too