4-H 365.02 Creative Arts OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY EXTENSION

PROJECT IDEA STARTER String Art By Andrea Ervin, Clark County 4-H Alumna and Owner of Nailed It! String Art Designs. Reviewed by Jane Keyser, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Ohio State University Extension.

String art, also known as pin and thread art, is a creative, unique, and beautiful way to create personalized décor. The process consists of stringing thread between nails to form a design of your choosing, usually on a wooden board. String art designs can be small or large, simple or complex, and white or multi-colored. istock.com

History String art started as a way to demonstrate math meaning circle within a circle. By using the Bézier and engineering principles. It was created by curve in string art design, Eichinger created an Englishwoman and teacher, Mary Everest Boole. optical illusion of curves within a circle. Today the She used curve stitching to make math fun for her Bézier curve is used in animation and in the design young students. of computer fonts. Pierre Bézier, a French mathematician and engineer, developed a curve formula known as the Bézier Planning curve. Bézier When planning your string art project, choose worked for an a design that is practical for your level of automobile P1 experience. If you are making string art for the company in the P2 first time, choose something simple, such as a 1960s and used geometric shape, a letter of the alphabet, the 4-H the curve in the clover, or a smiley emoji, and use no more than design of cars. three colors. P0 P3 Bézier’s curve After your first project is complete and you have Bezier curve, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ curve, Bezier B%C3%A9zier_curve is said to have a good understanding of the technique and inspired a number design, you can create anything you like. The of artists, one of whom was American artist, John possibilities are endless! Keep in mind that simple Eichinger. Eichinger created geometric string is often beautiful. Complex does not necessarily designs called mandalas, which is a Hindu word mean better.

PLAN YOUR PROJECT Use this idea starter AND publication 4-H 365 Self-Determined Project Guide as the starting place for your 4-H self-determined project. TheSelf-Determined Project Guide is available from your county OSU Extension office or on the Web atohio4h.org/selfdetermined . You may choose to do a little or a lot depending on your level of interest. Be sure to register your project with your county OSU Extension office. – 2 –

smaller heads. Most hardware stores, home improvement stores, and lumber yards offer a wide variety. ☐ Thread. Crochet thread is a good option because it is thick and shows up nicely against your board. Yarn that is not too thick works well too. Both are available in many colors.

Other helpful items include these: ☐ Transparent tape. Use tape to secure your design on to the wood. istock.com Start with a simple shape and one color of thread so you can learn the basic ☐ Paper and pencil. Create techniques for nailing the nails and stringing the thread. and sketch your design with paper and pencil first. If the lightweight enough to be able Supplies board you are using is bigger to hang up, but thick enough than your paper, use tape and String art can be created with that the nails do not go through add paper to it until you get these five common items: hammer, the other side of the board. the right size. Notebook or scissors, wooden board, nails, and Poplar is a good choice. To graph paper is a good way to thread. Researching these items prevent injury from splinters, keep your design straight and online or in a store can be very sand any rough edges of the proportioned to your board. helpful, especially when setting up wood with sandpaper. Craft a budget for your project. stores and lumber yards are ☐ Tweezers. After you nail your design and pull the paper off ☐ Hammer. Choose a hammer good sources. the board, small pieces of that is small and lightweight ☐ Nails. Choose nails that are paper might be stuck around to prevent injury to your wrist thick enough not to bend the nails. This is normal. Use and arm. easily and thin enough not to the tweezers to get the excess split the wood; wire nails that ☐ Scissors. Choose scissors that paper off the nail as best are 17 gauge and ¾ inches are appropriate for you. Always you can. ask an adult for help if needed. long are preferred. The nail also should have at least a ☐ Wood stain. This is optional. ☐ Wooden board. Choose a small head on it. The head is You may also want to stain piece of wood that is the right what holds the threads on. the wood. Stains come in all size for your design. You can As you gain experience, you shades. Some wood stains always have an adult cut the can experiment with shorter make the thread colors really wood to the right dimensions. nails and nails with larger or stand out. Use good judgment, You want the wood to be though. You don’t want a dark wood stain for a design with dark colored thread. Always ask an adult for assistance when applying the wood stain. ☐ Clear nail polish. This is also optional. Use a tiny drop of clear nail polish to secure Andrea Ervin, facebook.com/ Andrea nailedstringartdesigns beginning, ending, and This project seems complex, but is really a series of shapes strung in a random pattern. Because it has shapes within the main shape, the hardest part is the pig. other knots. – 3 –

Creating 6. Carefully pull the paper off 1. Draw your design. Computer your board. Use tweezers to printouts are readily available, remove any small pieces. but to avoid copyright 7. Choose your thread colors. infringement, you are 8. Make a tight double knot encouraged to simply draw around the starting nail. Start your own. If you find designs stringing your design by pulling online that are clearly labeled the thread to a different nail, public domain, you are free to wrapping it once around the use them. nail, and going to another nail.

2. Place your board on a sturdy iStock.com Repeat this process until you surface. Nails are in place and ready for the are satisfied with the thickness next step. 3. Gather all your supplies. of string on your design. mistake, simply pull the nail out There are many ways to string 4. Center your design on your and try again. Also be mindful a design. It can be done board. Once it is in the right of how far the nail is put in randomly or by pattern. This is spot, tape it to the board. the board. If it is too far into your design. Make it your own! 5. Start nailing! Place the nails the board, there may not be 9. When finished, double knot on the lines of the drawing. enough room for stringing. If it the string on the nail and cut Be mindful of the space is not in far enough, the string off any excess string. A tiny between the nails. They should is likely to pull it out. As much drop of clear nail polish is not be too far apart nor too as possible, the nails should a good way to secure your close together. If you make a be nailed to the same depth. knots too.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Q. Does it matter how many nails I use? No, it doesn’t matter how many nails you use. However, you want the nails to be placed evenly. You can use a ruler to place them a certain distance apart or you can simply estimate it. Whether you use eight or 16 nails to make a square, for example, be consistent and place the nails evenly. To make a straight line, the nails can be close together or far apart. It is up to the designer. To make Source: “Destiny Protect me from the World” by Dominique Falla. CC BY-ND 4.0. a tight curve, the nails should be closer together to These nails are close enough to show a nice curve. show the curve. If your design has intersecting lines, make sure to put the nails where they intersect. Q. What if my thread is too short? If you think the piece of thread you are using is too Q. What is the effect of the pattern of the nails being short to complete the design, before it gets too short, strung across from each other? attach another length of thread to the original using The placement of the nails is important to ensure a few overhand knots. A square knot is most secure. the outline of the design is intact and complete. If The knot may end up in the middle of your design, even one nail is off in the outline it can change the but you should be able to bury it under other threads. picture. How the string is strung within those nails Another approach is to simply tie it to a nail and start can be in a pattern or completely random. That is up a new thread in the same place. Be careful though! to the artist. You may end up with too many knots on a nail. – 4 –

straight and secure without going through the board. ☐ Demonstrate your craft to your friends, family, or club members. ☐ Find at least one other string art artist, perhaps at a local craft show. Interview them about their experiences with string art.

String Art and Mathematics ☐ Use evenly spaced nails to make a square on a piece of board. Attach a long string “String Art” by Anthony McCann, CC BY-NC 4.0. and use it to make temporary Document the Process simple shapes like a triangle, AREAS OF INTEREST AND star, rectangle, and hexagon. ☐ Make a scrapbook of your THINGS TO DO Share your board with string art journey to present at Every self-determined 4-H project someone who is learning about 4-H judging. can be broken down into areas basic shapes. ☐ Use a web or mobile app to of interest. These are the specific ☐ Use evenly spaced nails to make a stop motion movie of things members want to address make a square on a piece of your project being created. during their project adventures. board. Attach a long string and Apple and Android devices Using 4-H 365 Self-Determined use it to divide the square into can use the free version of Project Guide, equal portions that illustrate identify at least Stop Motion Studio. (The fractions—½, ⅓, ¼, etc. Share three areas of interest with at special effects, which are not your board with someone who least three activities per area to free, are not necessary.) If is learning about fractions. explore. Take your ideas from the you don’t have a smartphone, list below or make up your own. upload your images to a computer and use the website Explore Different Tools gifmaker.org to make the stop and Supplies motion video. String Art Right Angle ☐ List all the tools needed to ☐ Make a poster to teach others complete your project. Make how to get started with a a supply box to hold them and simple string art design. present it at 4-H judging along with your art. ☐ Make a short series of designs that show how the same shape ☐ Select a small simple design can be simple or complex. and make samples of it using different nails, thread, or ☐ Learn more about mandalas. backgrounds. Practice Makes Perfect ☐ Use evenly spaced nails to ☐ Develop a notebook of ☐ Practice tying a secure knot make a circle on a piece of designs. Search coloring around a nail with thread. board. Start with any nail and books, go online, or draw Once you are good at it, teach make the shape of a triangle your own. someone else. within the circle. Make another ☐ Study the color wheel to see ☐ Practice hammering nails into triangle beginning with the how thread and background a piece of scrap wood. Keep nail to the left of your starting colors can enhance each other. practicing until the nails are nail. Continue to do this until – 5 –

all the nails are used. The and use a large needle and more nails you use to create string to make your design. For RELATED RESOURCES the original circle, the more step-by-step instructions, go Pinterest, Etsy, and Google complex your design. Try using online and search for “United are great ways to find ideas color changing string for a Art Project #107.” and inspiration for designs and beautiful effect. ☐ Demonstrate how straight patterns. ☐ Use evenly spaced nails to lines can create curves with a You can find the supplies you make a square or rectangle series of increasingly complex need at hardware stores, hobby on a piece of board. Use string art pieces. You can use a different color for each the same pattern with more and craft stores, and some corner and create curves by connections between the nails, department stores. overlapping straight lines or you can use a pattern with as shown here. This is a more nails. You decide. parabolic curve. ☐ Create a pattern that ☐ Learn about and use the showcases all the colors of curve-stitching patterns from the visible light spectrum, also the team that was recognized known as ROYGBIV, or red, at the American Mathematical orange, yellow, green, blue, Society’s activity at the USA indigo, and violet. Science and Engineering ☐ Use your skills to make Festival: ams.org/ something functional, such as a publicoutreach/curve- picture holder or key hooks. stitching. ☐ Create a shape in negative More Ways to Do String Art space by filling in the space ☐ Another kind of string art uses around it with thread. white string on black cardstock, ☐ Make a picture of something—a without the nails. On an sailboat on water, the moon 8-inch square piece of graph over a forest, a cat’s face—by paper, draw points to make a using a combination of smaller symmetrical pattern. Transfer shapes on one board. the pattern to the cardstock Andrea Ervin, facebook.com/ Andrea naileditstringartdesigns The heart in this design is created with negative space. ohio4h.org/selfdetermined

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10/2020