String Painting Paint Pulled String Art

I recently discovered a brand new art technique that I am obsessed with! It’s called Paint Pulled String Art. String painting is so easy, and the results are so pretty! It’s an easy art technique for a summer boredom art project, and it’s perfect for kids and grown ups alike and people of all skill levels! I even have a video taking you start to finish so you can see how fun and easy it is!

To make a a pulled string art abstract canvas with paint, you’ll need just a few simple supplies:

A flat paneled canvas,yarn, thread, cotton string (like baker’s twine), a paint palette or even a paper plate,a paint brush, loose leaf paper, and different colors of paint. You can use either acrylic paint or tempera paint or washable paint for the kiddos. If you don’t want paint on your hands, you may also want gloves, it does get messy!

I used DecoArt’s Extreme Sheen in Berry, Rose Quartz, Deep Sapphire, Jadite, and Americana Acrylics in Mermaid Tail. You can watch the video to see the entire project, start to finish, or read farther down the post to see the step by step. This is for string painting on a dry canvas. You can also string paint on a painted wet canvas for a different effect. If you want a color other than white, base coat your canvas first and let dry.

 

Start by cutting a length of string. It depends on how you want it to swirl on your canvas or how big your canvas is, but normally you want a few inches of string or yarn. Using different kind of strings to pull with will give you different results in your string pull art. Roll up the string into a circle, loosely wrapping it around two fingers helps to wrangle the string before dipping in the paint.

Dip almost the entire length in your paint, except where you are going to be grabbing it. You can also dip different part so the string in different colors for a multi-color effect. Use a brush to make sure the string is completely coated. While you want the string coated in paint, it shouldn’t be clumpy or goopy, so remove any excess paint with a paintbrush first.

Lift your string and lay it in a random swirly pattern on your canvas, leaving a clean tail of the string over the end of the edge. You can also lay in in a straight line as well and move it to create a pattern. Have fun, and experiment with different loops and swirls when creating your pulled string painting. After you lay your paint-dipped string down, place a piece of clean paper over the top and press slightly on the  paper with your palm or use an old heavy book to apply gentle pressure on the paper. With your other hand, pull the string straight out from the bottom of the paper until it is completely out from under the paper. Lift the paper off gently, and your string pull painting art is revealed! After you do one string pull, you can place a second sheet of paper over the first and create a lighter version pattern with the remainder of paint on the string for custom paper crafting!

If you don’t want your colors, or shapes to mix, let the first color and then each paint pull dry slightly before adding the next string as you layer them. Otherwise you can create a rainbow of colors!

I mixed the Extreme Sheen, and the regular Americana Acrylic paint to give some depth.

Another fun string art pull technique is to squeeze your paint colors out onto a tray and lay the string across so different parts of the string are dipped in each color. Then do you paint pull.

It’s such a fun technique, I almost couldn’t stop. It looks like a pretty flower or feather and it was fun to create different effects. The paper is almost as pretty as the actual art piece. It would be fun to play with for mixed media art, or another project. This is a fun and easy technique to give the  kids to do to explore their creativity when they say they are bored this summer! I would love to also try this with something thicker like a ribbon for a different look.

If you love this art technique (it’s so much fun!), make sure to check out how to make an agate inspired painting.

This post is sponsored by DecoArt, opinions are entirely my own.