Pictures made from threads and nails - what kind of style is this?

Amazingly beautiful paintings are obtained by winding multi-colored threads around nails driven into a wooden base. This type of creativity is still little known to the average person. Read on to learn about the style of painting, the technique used, and tools for work.

What is this style of painting called?

Drawing with a thread stretched between nails is called string art. Nails are driven into the wooden base, following the contour of the design. Threads are pulled between them in a certain order. The peculiarities of the technique used gave it its name: “string” is translated from English as string, “art” is art.

Sometimes this type of creativity is called “isothread painting.” The meaning of the expression is that drawing as a creative process actually takes place. But in a slightly unusual way. The design is limited by the frame of hammered hardware, so you can only create inside, filling the free space with colored thread. The thread performs the main artistic function of creating an image or picture, that is, it is a figurative element. So we get the word iso + thread. Sometimes this whole type of needlework is called isothread for brevity.

What tools and materials are needed?

If you decide to master the basics of this unusual, such an amazing type of creativity, which combines the femininity of soft wool and the masculine brutality of iron, then first of all stock up on the above materials. You can use sewing, silk or knitting threads, but not fluffy or textured. Floss or mercerized cotton, “Iris”, is also suitable. Select small nails, a couple of centimeters long, making sure that their tips do not pierce through the base.

Important! The required number of hardware products should be calculated independently based on the template of the design being performed.

In addition, prepare the following materials and tools:

• a wooden plank (or its equivalent) for the base of the panel;
• pencil for marking a drawing on wood;
• hammer;
• long-nose pliers;
• scissors for cutting threads;
• a copied or drawn template to be transferred to the base.

Important! With a wooden plank, you need to carry out all the preparatory work in advance: apply a layer of stain, paint, sand, varnish.

Main techniques for working with isothread

If we talk about the process briefly, the main points are in three stages:

• transferring the outline of the drawing with a pencil onto the base;
• driving nails 1/3 or ½ in and supporting them with long-nose pliers to avoid injury;
• filling the center of the pattern with threads.The easiest way is to wrap wool or silk around nails from one to another without a specific system, in a chaotic order.

Features of creating drawings in the style of street art

Today, this type of handmade is developing in three main directions:

• abstract paintings and panels with geometric shapes are created;
• asymmetrical highly artistic works: portraits, landscapes, paintings;
• volumetric images.

In order to begin to master the technique of work, it is worth familiarizing yourself with the features of creating paintings and panels:

1. nails are driven in at the same distance from each other and immersed in the base to the same length;
2. It is more convenient to work with a handle without a rod, from which the lower and upper stops have been removed and the thread has been passed inside;
3. to create three-dimensional geometric shapes, beginners use drawings with digital markings that indicate the sequence of actions;
4. The color of the thread can be changed by tying it in a knot on a nail. Work with a different color is also carried out through the starting and ending knot on the nail;
5. using the finished template, you can get two different panels: by filling the drawing with color or working in the same way with the outer contour and leaving the inner space of the drawing unfilled.