String Art

In my quest to become a true jack of all trades, I wanted to dabble in "art".

I recently moved to a new house and could finally add some things to my (otherwise bland) wall.
One day while walking through a art museum I saw this words that keep changing as you change your perspective of it. MADE OF STRING!!!
Sadly unlike the museum I had one wall of my own and not a whole tennis court. So I did what any person wil do and made my own string "art"

On the art museum topic. I also like long walks on the beach and classical music (insert winky eye emoticon or something).

1. Wood. Ask for chip board scraps +- 50x50 cm. 3 50x50 squares should be fine

2. Paint. Any colour you choose. I had a tin left and the wood looked boring.

3. Panel nails. Or any type of small nails you have.

4. String, lots of string. I opted for the artificial wool as it was readily available and my sheep don't come in red.

Tools:
1. A hammer
2. A paint brush (mine is a bit dirty...)
3. A pencil
4. A ruler
5. A wood saw (if you plan to cut the wood yourself).
6. Scissors
7. Needle nose pliers or fingers if you are brave enough.

I literally got everything from my local hardware store, yes even the "wool", for less than the price of a extra large fried chicken barrel.
I guess it would go up to two barrels if I add the paint. Luckily I did have the paint. (and the chicken)

Chip board is cheap, but it must be the worst wood I worked with.
It has a temper like a toddler.

I had mine pre cut from the scraps they had in the shop, so I only paid for the labour. They even ran it through a drum sander for me.

Next I took a pencil (2B) and drew out my letters on the boards.
First I drew a grid, half grid then worked from there.
Make sure that your lines are crisp and dark, run the pencil over the line a few times to make them stand out a bit more.
The word I chose was RED.
Ideally you can make a stencil on your computer, print and stick it to the wood. I only realised this after the next step... (Blond moment right there)

Now the fun begins.

Follow the lines you drew with the panel nails. Start at the corners the add one in the halfway mark between each nail. I just went on what looks right. (see fotos for a reference)
I spaced the outside nails using the grid pattern. Just take care on the edge as the board may break apart.

Use the pliers to hold the nail then smack it with the hammer.
I gave then 2 hits each, but kept going back to make sure they are all the same hight.
Aim for 3/4 of the nail depth. This gives enough strength while not completely hiding the nails.

You can add a few in the blank spaces between your letter and the edge to give a dramatic corner in the strings

Now the bad part. P....

...ainting

Painting the boards now may get tricky.
I nailed the board before painting because I had this irrasional fear of pain chipping.

But you can swop nailing the boards and painting them if you want.

Anywho.
I painted the large open areas with a roller and touched up the other parts with a small brush and went over the whole thing with the brush aswell.
This gives it a bit of a textured feeling.

Go crazy with this, go many directions while the paint it still a bit wet. The texture makes it pop more of you get closer.
By the way do you see the rabbit in the snoe storm?

Okay. No more holding you on by a string. (badum tsss)

Start, first and foremost, by out lining the letters. Start where you please on them, just wrap the wool once around each nail. (see photo nr4)

Because the "wool" knots disappear when pulled tight, you can stop anywhere on the out line.

Now for the real crazy, but fun, part.

Attach one end of the "wool" you have left to one nail.

Remember to go random and crazy.
It's not even necessary to remain inside your lines.
Going back and forth, cover the open areas with "wool", leaving either the inside of the letter or the outside untouched. (look at my E)
Leave no nail untouched!
See photos of the effects of leaving either untouched.

This is only theory to be honest.

Finally...
Tie off any loose ends to a nail. Use the knot "tip" from the previous step.
If you want you can apply nail polish to the knots on the nails.

I used dubbel sided tape (the expensive kind) to attach mine to the wall, but you can use any other method that suits you.

Offset them or hang them in a straight line (like me).
Congratulations, you made art.

I added this step since it ties up a few loose ends. (budum tss)

1. I know I'm going to get comments about the art museum/art gallery thing. This was a travelling museum, said so on their pamflet

2. The last part of the intro was like a ye old dating bio. Going to art exhibitions and long walk on the beach (generic '70s bio)

3. Art is in "" because art is how you experience it. A Airbus A380 is art to me... For instance

4. Wool is also in "" because they sell it as wool but its artificial.

5. I wanted to add alot more puns and jokes, but noticed they are terrible after the chicken barrel and toddler jokes. So please add your puns in the comments. (for the laughs)

6. Like alway I ran through 6 mugs of coffee during the project (paint drying excluded).

7. Sorry for the jokes again. They just happened

8. Why the word red? In aviation you get a set of lights named papis. Red on white lights mean you are at the correct line of descend. Your still good.

Until my next badly thought through instructable. Happy building

W. Bean