Everything You Need to Know About Diamond Painting

Image by bridgesward from Pixabay

It’s not often that something new appears in the arts and crafts world, so when diamond painting appeared on the scene, it created huge amounts of interest. If you’ve not yet come across this unique art form, then you’re going to be intrigued by this new way to express your artistic talents.

Diamond painting takes its inspiration from paint by numbers through the use of printed canvas and a numbering system. However, rather than using paint to build the design, diamond painting uses tiny ‘diamonds.’ These resin ‘diamond-like’ beads combine to create a 3-D effect, which gives depth to the image and eye-catching shimmer to the completed artwork. Often called 5-D diamonds due to the high number of sides within each gem, it’s this multi-faceted design that allows them to reflect the light and catch the eye.

Types of Diamonds

The diamonds come in two different shapes, round and square, and although the basic technique is the same for both, there are a few differences that might help you decide which option is the best for you.

Square diamonds create a very orderly design. They fit in close up to each other so that there’s no gap between each one. This also means that the finished image has a very neat and much ‘fuller’ appearance.

Round diamonds combine to create top-level sparkle! It’s a more mosaic effect that’s created as you’ll have tiny gaps between each gem and so they work to best on the large-scale designs or where there’s less fine detail in the image. For beginners, they’re also easier to handle and place, so perfect for honing your diamond painting skills. 

Everything You Need for Creating a Diamond Masterpiece

Other than the diamonds, you’ll also need the printed canvas. These come with the adhesive already applied, all covered with a plastic film. When you’re ready to get started, simply peel back a small section of the film to reveal the canvas that you’re going to be working on. It’s best and easiest to work on a small area at a time and to keep the canvas-covered when you’re not working on it.

The range of canvas designs has seen enormous growth over the last year. Whether you’re keen to recreate an iconic image from the old Masters, a beautiful landscape, or a seasonal theme for Halloween or Christmas, you’ll be able to find one which inspires you to get creative. More recently, personalized canvases have become available, which are specially designed for diamond painting. So, that means that your favorite photo of the family, holiday snapshot, or cute image of your dog can be transferred onto canvas and is ready to be transformed into a beautiful shimmering diamond painting. 

So, you have your canvas and your diamonds; there are just a few other bits and pieces you’ll need to get started. First off, you need an applicator pen and wax to transfer the diamonds to the canvas; the wax provides the stickiness to pick up the diamond and keep it on the pen until placed in position on the canvas.

Some applicator pens have a pencil design so that rather than having lead running through them, they have wax. This then means that you just sharpen them to keep the wax supply coming. Other applicator pens rely on your dipping them into a wax pad to provide the required ‘stickiness.’ Some diamond painters prefer to use tweezers as this avoids any wax residue getting onto the gems. But this is a technique that can take a while to perfect and can be tricky when using the round diamonds.

If your image has large sections of the same color, then that’s when a diamond drill wheel or multi-placer comes in handy. These tools let you pick up and place several diamonds all at the same time making the process much quicker.

The last accessory that we recommend is a diamond organizer. Most kits provide the diamonds in individual bags, which aren’t the easiest to work with. Emptying each bag into their own compartment within the organizer makes it simple to select a single gem.

Diamond painting has seen tremendous growth in popularity over the last year, and it’s not difficult to see why. The opportunity to switch off from day to day stress and worries and instead focus on creating a beautiful piece of art makes it the perfect pastime for all ages.