Diamond painting is very similar to digital oil painting, the only difference is that digital oil painting uses pigments for coloring, while diamond painting uses a small grain of rhinestone, crystal, or diamond with a flat back. You can buy a complete set of diamond painting materials online or at a well-stocked craft supply store. Some people think that making diamond paintings is very difficult, but it is not. As long as you are familiar with the method and process, you will be able to make commendable works while enjoying a leisurely time.
Tools / Materials
Diamond painting set
Heavy book
Rolling pin (optional)
Masking tape
Lay out the oil canvas
1.Purchase sets of diamond painting materials. Diamond painting making materials can be purchased online or at well-stocked craft stores. Although each brand is slightly different, most kit materials contain a printed canvas, flat diamonds on the back, a dotting box, a dotting pen, and a piece of clay.
2.Read the oil canvas. Oil canvas is printed with many small squares, just like cross-stitch, and the squares carry different colors and numbers. Each number corresponds to a diamond grain of one color. The numbers are listed on a table, and next to or below the numbers are printed the diamonds and pouches of the corresponding color. Usually the table is printed right on the side of the canvas.
Some of the pouches may display letters or symbols; just treat them as numbers.
3.Use tape to secure the unfolded canvas to a flat table. If the canvas does not spread flat, wrap the canvas from the opposite direction and proceed to unfold it again. Spread the canvas out on a flat table, then use masking tape to secure the four corners.
This is a time-consuming task, so it is best to attach the canvas to a wooden board for easy movement.
4.
Tear the plastic paper from the canvas. Do not tear off the plastic paper completely, tearing off 3 to 5 cm wide is enough. Use your fingers to press a crease along the plastic paper, thus avoiding the plastic paper from rolling back.
Some sets contain plastic paper that has been cut into strips beforehand. Just tear off the first strip of plastic paper and you can start to paste the diamond particles.
5.
Start by pouring the first batch of diamond grains in the dotted diamond box. Look at the canvas, choose the grid where you started and remember the number on the grid. Find that number in the table, then find the bag with the same number. Open the bag and pour some of the diamond grains into the dotted diamond box that comes with the set.
Some sets come with more than one point drill box. You can use the extra box for other colors of diamond grains.
Paste diamond grain
1.Dip the point drill pen into the clay in the kit. Open the clay package and poke up a small amount of clay with the tip of the pen. The pen tip with the clay will stick to the diamond particles more easily.
Some kits come with a special crayon that must be sharpened before use. An ordinary pencil sharpener can be used to sharpen these pens.
Some point pens have a wider tip and can glue up to three diamond grains at a time.
2.
Use a pen to glue up the diamond grains. Gently touch the angled side of the diamond with the tip of the pen. As you remove the pen from the box, the diamond is glued to the tip of the pen.
It is best to place the box underneath the canvas for easy access to the diamonds.
3.
Gently press the tip of the brush onto the corresponding grid of the canvas. Remove the tip of the pen and the diamond will stick to the canvas. It is best not to press too hard at the beginning, because if the diamond grain is crooked, you can still move it to the right place, and then press down hard, the diamond grain will stick firmly.
This process is exactly the same as coloring a digital painting, except that the diamond grains are used for coloring instead of paint.
4.
Fill in the remaining squares in the area. Glue one color all over and then glue another. When needed, re-dip the tip of the pen into the glue. When all the squares represented by the same number are filled, move on to the next color. This is faster and more organized.
Do not put your hand on the canvas; the more your hand touches the canvas, the less it will stick.
5.
Tear off more plastic paper and fill a larger area of squares with diamond pellets. Continue covering the small squares in the same way as before. Tear off a 3 to 5 cm wide area at a time, gluing one color before gluing another color. When the area is glued with diamond particles, continue to the next area.
Do not tear off the entire sheet of plastic paper, which will dirty the adhesive on the canvas and make the canvas lose its stickiness.
Closing work
1.Re-cover the canvas with the original plastic paper. If you have thrown away the plastic paper, replace it with regular paper or baking paper; do not use wax paper.
2.Use a rolling pin to roll back and forth across the canvas. This step is to press down those loose diamond grains to hold them in place. If you don't have a rolling pin, use a can or glass jar instead. You can also gently press the canvas with your hands.
3.Get some heavy books and put them on the canvas and press them overnight. The weight of the books will make the diamond grains and the canvas stick together more tightly. If you can't find books that cover the entire canvas, a flat, heavy object such as a box or chopping board can also be used to press the canvas.
4.Tear off the tape. First take the book away, then remove the plastic paper, and finally tear off the tape from the four corners. At this point, you can not yet cut off the excess canvas, because doing so may cause the canvas to wear.
5.
Framing. First take away the glass from the frame and put the canvas in. Fold up the excess and hide it on the back of the canvas, then set the canvas straight. The glass will wear away the surface of the diamond grain and affect the shine of the picture, so there is no need to put the glass plate back in.
If you want to make it more beautiful, put a layer of padding under the canvas first, so that the diamond painting will have an extra circle of lining edge. It is recommended to choose a liner that matches the color of the diamond painting.
Cautions
You can put the diamond grains in the box; be sure to put the grains in numerical order.
Write the numbers on the grid on the corresponding diamond pouch so you don't have to go back and forth with the table.
Take some time to put the pellets in the right order. In the long run, this will speed up the gluing process.
To protect the pellets and the exposed canvas, it's a good idea to put the plastic sheet back on at each break.
To prevent the clay from drying out, wrap the dotting brush and clay with plastic wrap during the break.
Clean the canvas with a cold, damp cloth. Do not wipe hard when cleaning.
Oil canvases should not be washed in the washing machine, dried in the dryer, or ironed.
Do not tear off all the plastic paper covering the canvas, because the adhesive on the canvas will become dirty and thus lose its stickiness.
