Diamond Painting - The Ultimate Guide

Welcome to the world, that’s filled with frenzy and is richly ravishing. Are you a newbie in the club of diamond painting or do you have some experience of the game of diamond painting? Well, whatever the case be, we favor you with the ultimate guide of diamond painting that will be magnificently fruitful for your journey if it's your first time and you will not have to learn diamond painting, the hard way. And will enrich your effectiveness, elevate your efficiency, and grant you an enhanced experience, if you are a proficient player.

What Is Diamond Painting?

Diamond Painting is an art that has shaken the world of arts and crafts. It has become tremendously popular all across the world with its staggering hit, over a short stretch of time. And the reasons are pretty simple and obvious. Hundreds of small shining diamonds that are joined together, in order to form a captivating painting is attractive enough to persuade people to try diamond painting.

Diamond painting is a type of painting that involves sticking “colorful diamonds” to make images or patterns. The diamonds are commonly referred to as "drills" and are also known as "beads". These diamonds are picked up with the help of a diamond painting applicator, commonly known as a pen, and applied to the corresponding sections of a sticky canvas, and the results are absolutely astonishing and alluring artworks.

Diamond painting deals with the concept similar to cross stitches and paint by numbers. You have to match the code on the diamond bag in correspondence with the marked section of numbers and symbols on the canvas and place the glittering diamonds with the pen. And shortly, a “masterpiece” that seems like the work of an expert artist can be made by anyone. Diamond painting is sincerely a piece of cake and that's one of the reasons that make it stand out in the art world.

Diamond painting is the best crafting hobby that one can have to amuse oneself. It's the perfect pick for all the DIY enthusiasts and for those who want to possess the power of painting and exhibit artistic skills and creativity. You can unite the shining diamonds and form a marvelous mosaic artwork, in no time and delight yourself in this trendy art and craft of the modern era.

How Does Diamond Painting Work?

A diamond painting kit is required to do painting with diamonds. The kit includes everything that you need to create an amazing and delightful diamond painting, all by yourself, with the help of your own hands. A high-quality canvas, easy-to-handle applicator pen, lots of diamond packets, and a box of wax are provided in this kit and these things are used in coordination to make diamond painting work. The canvas is filled with lots of areas of marked sections of numbers and symbols or letters and features a color chart on the side. This color chart includes symbols, and numbers illustrating color codes for your guidance in placing the diamonds in a specific section on the canvas. These color codes are also present on the diamond packets as well.

You have to carefully match the code on the pack of your diamonds, in correspondence with the symbols on the canvas and apply the diamonds to particular places. The canvas has adhesive on it which helps the diamonds to be applied to the canvas. The adhesive used in diamond paintings is of two types. There is a double-sided tape for holding the applied diamonds and the other variety is the glue to hold the diamonds. The applicator pen has to be filled with wax in order to stick the diamonds to the pen. You simply have to dip the tip of the pen in the wax box, pick up a diamond and apply it to the canvas. Repeat the same set of steps, and a radiant and enthralling artwork is on the way.

Why You Should Try Diamond Painting?

The use of diamond painting has skyrocketed in recent years. With each day passing, more and more people are coming to diamond painting. It is indeed fascinating how tons of small sparkling diamonds can be united and turned into something such charismatic and amazing artwork.

The diamond painting will engage you in a wholesome activity that will soothe your brain and relieve your stress from your busy and hectic life. It will uplift your mood and raise your curiosity by making you paint a meaningful and pleasing painting. It will bring you peace and pleasure and make you take a break from hazardous technological gadgets. It's really simple and truly easy yet so interesting and too blissful.

The specialty of diamond painting does not end here, but it further exceeds to allowing anyone of any age group and gender to partake in this euphoric space. From children to teenagers to middle-agers to old people can have themselves amused with it. Both males and females can get an entertaining experience and make remember able, remarkable memories with painting with diamonds.

To give you more chills and thrills, diamond painting is not restricted to skillful painters only. Painting with diamonds does not require major skills. It does not require lots of practice, huge amounts of time, and learning the art from scratch. Just get your diamond painting kit, and you are good to go to make an impressive piece of art. You don't have to deal with any sort of stress, that's needed in traditional painting, and still make professional-level paintings. In fact, even noobs can also make great progress with it. That’s the thing about painting with diamonds, as mentioned above all you have to do is match the diamonds in accordance with the marked areas on your canvas.

Finishing your artwork will not only bring you waves of joy and winds of bliss but you get the respect of people around you as well. You can exhibit your piece of art and show people and loved ones that have got some talent and skills, and get acknowledgment and admiration. Diamond Paintings can be also used in home decor, by hanging them on a wall of your home as well as can be an exciting and enchanting choice of gifts to give to a loved one.

What Is A Diamond Painting Kit?

A diamond painting kit is a set of tools or instruments that are necessary in order to create diamond paintings. Just like any other thing, or art to be done, painting with diamonds also requires a bunch of tools to make paintings.

What Is Included In The Diamond Painting Kit?

A diamond painting kit includes the following items;

A canvas with pre-printed marks, e.g. numbers, and symbols that correspond with the code on the packets of diamonds. You have to match the color code in accordance with the marked sections on the canvas. There is sticking, or a layer of glue on the canvas, that helps the diamonds to be held.
Packs of different colored diamonds that are necessary to complete the particular design of a diamond painting. Each color of diamond comes in a separate pack. There are codes on each color, that are printed on the canvas as well. You have to carefully match the color codes in correspondence with the marked sections on the canvas and apply diamonds.
Diamond applicator tool, which is used to pick diamonds and place them on the canvas. It's a cylindrical tool, having the shape of a hollow end where diamonds are stuck and shifted from the tray to a canvas. The tip of this tool is dipped in wax to stick diamonds to the tool. This applicator tool is commonly referred to as a diamond painting pen due to its close resemblance to a pen.
Tray, which is used put the diamonds in, so it is easy to pick them up. Trays are small plastic shallow containers that are used to pour the diamonds in. Trays have notches on the surface to separate the diamonds, and to pick up diamonds easily.
Wax, is used to fill the pen, in order to stick the diamonds to the pen and transfer diamonds from the tray to the canvas. Wax is a pink sticky substance that comes in a small box.
Tweezers are used to remove the diamonds that are not applied properly on the canvas.

How To Do Diamond Painting?

Grab a diamond painting kit. You can find a bunch of diamond paintings online. Each brand offers different options and quality of materials. But almost all the kits contain a pre-printed canvas, colorful diamonds, a pen-like tool, a box of wax, and a tray.
Put the canvas on a flat and plain surface and observe it carefully. The canvas is filled with lots of small sections that are marked with symbols, letters, or numbers. Each marked area corresponds to diamonds of a specific color. When you observe the canvas you will see there is a chart on the side of the canvas with an indexing list of colors and numbers to illustrate the corresponding diamond packs. You have to read this chart and match the numbers in the chart with the numbers on diamonds packets.
Gently peel off a portion of the protective sheet from the canvas where you want to work on. You should never remove the sheet completely. It is best to keep the parts of the canvas-covered on which you are not applying diamonds to protect it from dust, damage, or wrinkles.
Observe that part of the canvas that you just uncovered. Select a section to start from, and read the symbol in it. Compare this symbol with the color chart as well as with the diamond pack.
Take the color that corresponds with that symbol and add a little number of diamonds to the tray. Grasp the tray tenderly and shake it gently. This will cause the positions of diamonds in an arrangement that will help to pick up the diamonds easily with the diamond pen tool.
Sink the diamond pen tool in the wax box to fill the tip and gently press the applicator tool right on the top of the diamonds to stick them.
Place the diamonds on the canvas in accordance with their symbols. Use an appropriate force to exert, which should neither be too much nor too less. Too less force will make diamonds be not applied properly and too much force will make the wax come out on the top of the diamonds.
Repeat the same set of steps that are mentioned above, and stick all of the diamonds on the canvas until your splendid painting is finished.

Types of Diamonds?

The diamonds in the diamond paintings come in various shapes. Different types of kits offer different varieties of diamonds. These diamonds are created for particular purposes and reasons. The types of diamonds also depend on the skill sets of a person. Different shapes of diamonds include

Round Diamonds
Square Diamonds
Aurora Borealis
3D Diamonds
5D Diamonds

Round Diamonds

Round diamonds have a round shape and are simple and easy to use, making them ideal for beginners and noobs. These diamonds can be easily picked with a diamond painting pen and swiftly placed on the canvas. These shapes are somewhat bigger than other shapes thus much of the area of canvas can be covered with diamonds in less time, finishing the painting faster. Round diamonds also have more facets (number of cuts) on the surface, which makes them shine more.

Square Diamonds

Square diamonds have a square shape and are a bit complicated and hard. These diamonds take some effort and practice to be applied. These shapes are suitable for people with little or more experience. Square diamonds are smaller in size thus less area of the canvas can be covered with more diamonds, making the painting of higher resolution. It is somewhat difficult to work with square diamonds due to their small size.

Aurora Borealis Diamonds

Aurora Borealis diamonds deals in both round and square shape and are known for their radiant shine. Aurora Borealis or AB diamonds are named after Earth’s spectacular natural phenomenon “Northern Lights”. AB diamonds have a special material coating that stimulates their colorful glowing effects. These diamonds make amazingly glittering and shimmering art projects. AB diamonds are used as a deluxe choice by artists.

3D diamonds

3D diamonds have three facets on each side of the diamond hence called 3D. The facets are the number of cuts that make the shape of a diamond and give it a dimension. 3D diamonds have 9 facets in total with 3 facets on each side. These diamonds are used in normal-designed diamond paintings and can be a better choice for kids.

5D diamonds

5D diamonds have five facets on each side of the diamond, hence called 5D. 5D diamonds have a total of 15 facets. These diamonds have extraordinary shine and brilliance due to the number of facets that make the painting remarkably amazing and attractive. 5D diamonds are used for extra detailed artworks and are a better choice for adults.

Partial Drill vs Full Drill?

Partial Drill

As the name suggests partial drill diamond paintings are those where you apply the diamonds only on those boxes which have symbols on them. The portions of the canvas where diamonds are not applied are used as the background of the drawings. Partial drills are better for beginners and noobs because they are lesser areas on the canvas to deal with, and the painting can be finished easily and fastly. It's suitable for newbies to boost their confidence by giving them the rewarding feeling, that they have got artistic skills.

Full Drill

In full drill diamond paintings, diamonds are applied to all the areas of the canvas. Full drill diamond paintings are covered entirely in diamonds. The canvas filled completely with diamonds from top to bottom and left to right, looks better, finer, and greater overall. Full Drills diamond paintings are a suitable choice for people having some experience, as there is the entire area of the canvas to cover.

Techniques of Diamond Painting

There are some techniques that you can use in placing the diamonds on the canvas. These techniques are used for particular purposes and reasons. They can enhance your experience of painting with diamonds, based on your needs.

Checkerboard Technique

In the checkerboard technique, the diamonds are placed in a format that we see on a checkerboard. This technique is useful in placing the diamonds straighter and also reduces the gaps between the diamonds.

Row By Row Technique

In this technique, pens are joined together or a multi placer is placed at the tip of the pen to apply three or more diamonds at the same time. The row by row technique is useful when your canvas has a big section with the same colors, it can save time by placing 3 or more diamonds at the same time.

Color By Color Technique

In this technique, diamonds are placed on the canvas on the basis of each color. One color at one time. This technique is useful when you do not want to use different colors and rather complete one color.

Tips and Tricks?

There are handy tips and tricks that you can use for diamond painting to make your experience

effective and efficient. These tips will make your work better for sure and improve the quality of your diamond painting thoroughly.

Use a plane or flat surface to put your canvas on. This will help to make the painting better, and easier.
Use a chair for doing the diamond painting. This will help you make the art comfortably.
Use sufficient lights when doing diamond painting so you see clearly and do not get pressure on your eyes.
Read the color-coded scheme first, so you know which colors you need to use, do not create a mess by grabbing all colors at once, it may cause a mixing of colors.
Do not remove plastic from the entire canvas or from those areas where you are not applying diamonds right now to avoid dust issues.
To have an efficient experience, you should decide to place diamonds in one section. Do not place diamonds here and there; instead, select a section and complete it.
To make it easier to pick diamonds, put the diamonds in the tray and gently shake them back and forth. This will cause the adjustment of diamonds in a proper way.
Use the wax in a balanced amount, neither too much of it nor too less.
Place the diamonds gently on the canvas, using a lot of force in applying the diamonds may cause the diamonds to fall from the canvas.
If wax appears on the diamond while placing it on the canvas, use gently a piece of wet cloth to remove the wax.
Cover the wax so it doesn't lose grip.
Clean the tip of the pen from time to time so that the old wax does not stick to it. This will decrease the performance of the pen in picking diamonds.
Use tweezers to remove the diamonds that are not applied properly on the canvas. Improperly placed diamonds will reduce the output of your artwork.
Store the diamonds in container boxes, ice cubes, egg cartons, etc.

Benefits of Diamond Painting

Painting with diamonds has certain benefits

Diamond painting is the perfect stress reliever. Making a painting with diamonds by joining hundreds of small colorful beads and turning them into a meaningful pattern or design and making an amazing and attractive piece of art will definitely relax your mind from all the stress you have from your daily busy life.
Diamond painting is a healthy activity for the brain. Picking the diamonds from the tray raises one’s curiosity, Placing the diamonds on the canvas uplifts one’s mood. These repeated sets of steps engage people in a wholesome activity. And then there are the waves of rewarding feelings when the artwork is finished.
Diamond painting is the best option to amuse one’s self. Making artwork with the help of tons of tiny diamonds will definitely delight people and give them a beautiful time and blissful experience that can not be found, anywhere else.
Diamond painting can boost one’s belief in themselves. Creating a captivating piece of art all by one’s self with one’s hand will definitely increase the confidence of people. They will get gratifying feelings that they did something great.
The diamond painting is completely non-toxic and does not require much preparation. There is no need for clean-up, and the diamond painting leaves a very durable finish.
Diamond painting can be the perfect hobby that one can make and get intense amounts of excitement and entertainment from painting with diamonds.
Diamond painting engages a person in an activity that's filled with joy, peace, and curiosity. Making a painting with diamonds keeps people busy and away from cellular devices and technological gadgets which are very harmful to the health of humans. Diamond painting grips the interest of people in a way, that they forget the need for cellular devices.

Sealing Of Diamond Painting?

After you have completed your diamond painting it's wise to seal it. Sealing the diamond painting will fix and secure all of the diamonds in their place.

You have spent zealous efforts and your precious time in making your significant artwork. Then why not preserve your appealing artwork for the future. The diamonds in your painting may start to fall off or may lose grip over time. It is prudent to always seal your diamond painting when your piece of art is completed. Sealing will secure your artwork for years to come.

Different types of sealing for diamond paintings?

There are different options available for the sealing of the diamond paintings. Each option has its own different uses and purposes. Each option has its own pros and cons.

Paint-on or brush-on sealer

Paint-on or brush-on-sealers are known as the best option for sealing diamond paintings as they offer a quality top glue layer that fills up the tiny space between the diamonds. This sealer certainly locks the diamonds to their places on the canvas and gives a good finishing to your artwork.

Benefits

Paint-on or brush-on-sealers are easy to use sealers.
Paint-on or brush-on-sealers are dust-proof.
Paint-on or brush-on-sealers are waterproof.

Drawbacks

Paint-on or brush-on-sealers may reduce some of the shine of the diamond painting.
Paint-on or brush-on-sealers will make your diamond painting rigid and you would not be able to roll it up.
Paint-on or brush-on-sealers take time to dry up.

How to use paint-on or brush-on-sealers?

To seal the diamond painting take a look at the following set of steps.

The first step to begin the sealing of your diamond painting is to make sure your diamond painting is clean from dust. In case there is dust then remove the dust using a soft cloth.
Check certainly that the placed diamonds are in proper adjustment. Use a soft cloth to cover the diamond painting and then add some weight for example heavy books or use a rolling pin.
Take the paintbrush and sink the tip of the brush in the box of paint-on or brush-on-sealer. Get the right amount of the sealer it should be neither too much nor too less.
Apply the brush thoroughly to the entire diamond painting to fill up the gaps between the diamond painting. Paint-on or brush-on-sealer will look thick at first but gradually become transparent when it starts to dry up.
After you are done applying the sealer completely on the diamond painting, leave it to dry up.

Spray Sealer

Spray sealers are known for their extraordinary finishings. These sealers offer crystal-clear finishing to the diamond painting. Spray sealers have the quality to give glossy finishings but they lack filling the tiny spaces between the diamonds.

Benefits

Spray sealers are easier, simple, and straightforward to use and apply
Spray sealers are waterproof.
Spray sealers are dustproof.
Spray sealers dry up quickly.
Spray sealers allow the diamond painting to be rolled.

Drawbacks

Spray sealers do not fill tiny spaces between diamonds.
Spray sealers do not protect the diamonds from falling off the canvas.

How to use spray sealers?

It's a walk in the park to use spray sealers, get the spray sealer and place your diamond painting on a flat and plain surface.
Use the above-mentioned steps before sealing i.e. cleaning your artwork from dirt, and adjusting the place diamonds.
Hold the spray sealer and carefully apply it to the entire canvas of the diamond painting. It will be quickly dry up.

Framing Diamond Painting

After finishing your wonderful and eye-catching diamond painting, why not frame it? Framing your diamond painting will be the cherry on top, deeply enhancing the beauty of your artwork. Plus, you can hang your artwork in your room to decorate your home, and you can showcase your art project to people around you as well. And framing your artwork will also make it last for the long term, protecting it from the damage of any sort.

Things you need that are required in Framing

In order to frame a diamond painting, you need a few things that we have mentioned as following

Your desired diamond painting that you wish to hang.
You need to get a frame with the size in correspondence with your diamond painting’s canvas. So carefully measure the size of your painting and get yourself a frame of the same size.
You need a foam board or cardboard to put at the back of the canvas to protect it from behind.
Glue to bind the foam board or cardboard with the frame.

Framing process

Grab the frame and carefully place your diamond painting in front of it.
Apply glue to the sides and edges of the frame and the boards and place foam board or cardboard on it.
Apply glue to the back of the frame and boards as well.
Let the glue dry up
Your diamond painting is framed, now you can hang it by using a nail and hammer or a mounting tape.

Tips in Framing Diamond Painting

When you are looking for a frame for your diamond painting. You can choose between a frame that has or does not has glass. We suggest that you choose a glass frame because it will protect your diamond painting from dust and dirt. Plus it can be easy to clean and will not damage the diamonds.
Use a soft and small brush or piece of cloth to clean the dirt off your diamond painting if you have not used a glass frame.
By chance, if the frame you have got is of small size, then don't panic. Instead carefully cut off a couple of rows of the diamonds from the canvas, using scissors to make your diamond painting fit in.