The world is filled with sorrows. Sometimes, we need a few blissful moments or an activity to unwind ourselves. An artistic hobby or activity that lets our imagination wander in the world of colors and sparkles and relieves our stress.
That’s how Diamond Painting was born! To melt our worries and give us a creative outlet to express ourselves.
But the question is:
What is Diamond Painting?
Diamond painting is a creative activity similar to paint by numbers. The only difference is we use sparkly diamonds to paint the image on the canvas. It’s a mix of paint by numbers and cross-stitch.
Simply put, you have to apply colored diamond resins or “drills” on the printed canvas using an applicator or pen.
Why Choose Diamond Painting?
Researches have shown that any artistic hobby relieves us from depression, stress and has a positive psychological impact that improves our focus and makes us feel more relaxed and calmer. It lets us be more productive after a creative session of diamond painting.
Many diamond artists have reported reduced anxiety levels after indulging in this addicting yet satisfying hobby.
Not just that, it saves us from the evil of tech gadgets and screens surrounding us.
An Essential Guide to Diamond Painting
The first step in diamond painting is to select a kit that sparks your interest, and you look forward to completing the artwork and marvel at it.
The amazing variety of kits might get you overwhelmed. But if you are a beginner, you can choose a partial drill or round drill kit for your ease.
Check Painting with diamonds for the diamond kits that range from animals, birds, and nature to abstract and surreal designs.
Get down to work once the kit arrives, and the excitement begins to bubble up.
Organize Your Workplace
The first thing before you start your diamond painting is to organize the workplace. Keep in mind that diamond painting may take few hours or a few days to a month to complete. Choose a well-lighted place with an organized seating, a comfortable chair, and a flat table to keep your canvas.
Check your Kit Supplies
When you receive your kit, you will have all the essential tools with it that will include tweezers, diamond drills in labeled bags, a tray to keep your diamonds, an applicator or pen, wax to dip your applicator in it, a pre-printed canvas. All diamond painting has the best set of tools available for diamond painting.
Kit Up Your Project
The next step will make your diamond painting hassle-free. It’s called the “kit up” technique. The kit will have multiple color diamond drills that have a code written on them. The easier method is to pour these drills into a separate organizer like a jewelry organizer with multiple compartments. Now, either by using a pen or a sticker, label each compartment or vial with its code.
Lay Out Your Canvas
Lay out your canvas on the table. You will see the legend printed on the side of the canvas. Peel the top layer off the canvas. You will see a background image with symbols printed on it. Match these symbols with the legend printed on the side and check their code.
Tip: Don’t peel off the canvas all once, or the adhesives of the canvas will be affected.
Select a Color to Work With
Study the uncovered part of the canvas and the legend. After matching the symbols, choose the corresponding color-coded resins. Pour a small amount of your selected color into the tray.
Tip: Shake the tray back and forth and tilt the angle slightly so the diamonds will sit right-side up, making it easy to pick up from the applicator.
Take out Applicator and Wax
The kit includes a pink wax pad. Remove plastic from it and dip the drill applicator’s nib into it. This wax will help pick up the diamonds from the tray.
Fill the Canvas with the Sparkles
The wax-dipped pen will stick the diamonds. Now carefully apply the diamonds to the printed canvas according to their symbol and DMC code. Starting from the top side, work your way towards the end.
Always work in small sections before moving on to the next section. Repeat the process until the canvas is filled with diamonds.
Use a Roller and Sealant
Use a rolling pin over the diamond painting to fix any popping drill. Don’t apply too much pressure on the rolling pin. After that, clean the canvas with the brush to remove the dust and seal it using a brush-on or spray sealer. Sealers will fix the diamonds in place so they won’t fall off with time.
Frame Your Artwork
The last step is to frame your sparkly and glowy artwork. It will give it a finishing touch. Hang it over the wall to show it off to your family and friends.
A Few Most-Used Terms in Diamond Painting
Diamond Drills
Diamonds are also known as drills, resins, or rhinestones, come in varied shapes that differ in shine and the way it looks on the canvas.
Let’s understand a few types of diamond drills.
Square Diamonds: The square-shaped diamonds don’t leave any gap and fit nicely with each other due to the straight edges. Considered a bit tricky to apply, it gives the painting more depth and a fuller look or mosaic appearance.
Round Diamonds: Round diamonds have round edges that’s why they leave a gap when we apply them on the canvas. They are relatively easier to apply than their counterpart square diamonds.
Special Diamonds: Any shaped diamond other than conventional square or round comes under the category of special diamonds. They differ in size and are mostly used in partial diamond paintings. The unique shapes and sizes are what make them more appealing.
Aurora Borealis: Aurora Borealis or AB diamonds have an iridescent coating over them to give them extra sheen and gloss. The sheen and sparkle mimic the “Northern lights” of polar regions. They are often mixed in a diamond painting kit, where only a few colors would have these AB drills to accentuate a certain object or area and make it appear more glowy.
Full Drill Kits
Full drill kits are those where the diamond resins cover the entire canvas without a gap. It’s more like coloring the entire canvas that includes background and the focused images in the foreground. It gives the diamond painting a mosaic look, and every inch of the canvas sparkles and shines.
Partial Drill Kits
In partial dill kits, only a specific object or focused area is filled with diamonds. It emphasizes only the foreground object.
Custom Diamond Painting
A custom diamond painting is made on order. You send the image to the diamond art kits supplier. They convert it to the diamond kit and send it back to you with its matched diamonds and canvas.
Working on a custom-made kit is like a dream project for every diamond artist. Many art lovers select an image of their pets, wedding images, kid’s photographs to gift or preserve memory in a unique way.
3D and 5D Diamond Drills
You must have heard the terms 3d and 5D diamond drills, but you may be confused as to what these means. The terms “3D” and “5D” refer to the cut of the diamonds.
All diamond drills are multi-faceted. Facet is an angular plane surface of the diamond from where the light bounces and refracts to make it sparkle.
3D diamond drills have 3 facets on each side. So, all three sides of 3D diamonds have a total of 9 facets.
On the other hand, 5D diamonds have 5 facets on each of its side. So, we get 15 facets in a 5D diamond drill.
If we see 3D & 5D diamonds side by side, we will notice the difference in their sparkle. 5d diamonds tend to sparkle more due to a greater number of facets. The more facets mean the light will reflect more at different angles, giving more depth to the image. 3D diamonds have less sparkle as compared to 5D.
We are sure that you must have loved the idea of indulging yourself in paint by diamonds craft world. So, be ready to spruce up your walls with stunning glowy artwork and choose a diamond painting kit to get started and become a part of the diamond artists’ community.
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