How To Keep Your Square Drills Stay Straight?

 

Square drills are the diamonds used in diamond painting that have a square shape rather than a rounded shape. Square diamond drills produce a fuller-looking painting because they line up well without leaving gaps. 

Square drills are more suited to experienced diamond painters because they are harder to use than are rounded drills.

Read More: Round vs. Square Drill

Round vs Square Drill Diamond Painting

Round diamond drills are bigger than square diamond drills, making them easier to use for beginner diamond painters. Round drills can be placed quickly and without as much consistency as square drills because the round shape hides slight inconsistencies on the canvas.

Round drills stay in place better than square drills even when the painting is moved. The space between the round drills prevents the drills from popping off the canvas.

Square drills create a fuller, more detailed diamond painting than round drills do, because the square drills are small and placed snugly together without gaps in between. 

Even though it’s easy to tell that square drills are in line by the satisfying snap sound they make when applied to the painting, this shape is more difficult to keep aligned and straight.

More experience in diamond painting is necessary to use square drills, and round drills are recommended for beginner painters.

Read more: How To Avoid Popping Diamonds 

Supplies & Tools Needed for Square Diamond Paintings

There are a few tools that can be helpful in painting efficiently with square diamond drills, and in keeping the square drills straight. The following supplies can be bought as a diamond painting starter kit or as separate tools:

Applicator Pen 

An applicator pen is an essential tool in diamond painting, used to pick up the diamond drills and place them on the canvas. 

There are several styles of pens that are useful in painting with square diamond drills. Standard applicator pens are dipped into a wax or glue pad before picking up diamond drills. 

The diamond wax pen doesn’t need to be used with a wax or glue pad because it already has wax on the tip. Use as-is until the wax runs out, then simply sharpen the pen and continue with the diamond painting. 

Diamond drill wheel pick-up pens contain an adhesive wheel that picks up the diamond drills to place on the canvas.

A multi-placer pen is handy for placing several diamond drills on the canvas at once. The multi-placer pen has a wide tip to pick up the diamond drills and place them down on the painting. The multi-placer pen is useful when there are rows of same-colored diamond drills to be placed.

Pre-Printed Adhesive Canvas 

When buying a diamond painting kit, a pre-printed adhesive canvas will be included, which features a symbol code guide to show where each diamond drill should be placed. For square diamond painting, you’ll need a canvas made specifically for square diamond drills.

Diamond painting canvases come in a variety of sizes, from 8 x 8 inches to 36 inches across. Choose a canvas sized to your particular painting and difficulty level.

Square Diamond Packs

When purchasing a new diamond painting canvas, select the square drill option at checkout. The diamond painting pack will contain enough square drills to complete the project. 

Purchase additional square diamond drill packs to keep on hand in case any drills from new packs go missing. This will ensure the completion of a project, instead of being one or two drills short.

A Ruler or Straight Edge 

To keep square diamond drills lined up on the canvas, use a ruler or any straight-edged object to line up the drills.

Other necessary items include tweezers for correcting diamond drills on the canvas, a wax pad to top up the applicator pen depending on the style of pen you have, a tray to hold the diamond drills while painting, and storage containers for the diamond drills in your kit.

Read more: Using A Light Pad When Diamond Painting

Keeping Square Drills Straight (Step-by-Step)

Follow these easy steps to keep square drills straight, to create a neatly-aligned painting.

Step 1: Position Your Tray

Place the tray in line with the canvas to keep your wrist in a natural, comfortable position when moving the drills from the tray to the painting. Keeping the tray in line with the canvas pattern will prevent your wrist from twisting uncomfortably when placing the drills, and will keep the diamond drills straight.

Step 2: Checkerboard the Diamond Drills

Create a checkerboard pattern on the canvas by skipping every second diamond drill. Once a checkerboard pattern is created, fill in the gaps with the rest of the diamond drills. This method keeps the drills straight and gives the satisfying snap sound of the diamond drills to tell you that they are placed well.

Step 3: Place the Drills With a Multi-Placer

Use a multi-placer applicator pen when adding rows of the same-colored diamonds. Add a few diamond drills to the multi-placer, then push the drills in the pen gently against the ridge of the tray to straighten them. 

Place the diamond drills on the canvas by placing the far end of the applicator down first before rolling the pen down to place the line of diamond drills.

Step 4: Straighten the Diamond Drills With a Straight Edge

Once the rows of diamond drills are placed on the canvas, use a ruler or any straight-edged object such as a book to adjust the lines. Place the straight edge against the row of diamond drills and push lightly to straighten the drills.

Step 5: Use Tweezers for Clean-Up

Use tweezers to correct any diamond drills that were not fixed with the straightener. Twist the diamond drill with the tweezer to correct its positioning. Use this technique with each drill that is still out of line with the rest of the diamond drills.

Tips for Square Diamond Drills

Craft neat and detailed square diamond drill paintings by using these tips when painting:

• Checkerboard the light colors – Misalignment and gaps are more obvious with light-colored diamond drills than with ones that are darkly colored. Avoid any misalignment, especially among lightly colored drills, by using the checkerboard technique when placing them 
• Use the multi-placer for the dark colors – The multi-placer pen tends to leave small gaps between drills. Since dark-colored diamond drills camouflage gaps better than light-colored drills do, only use the multi-placer for dark drills 
• Unstick the diamond drills – In rare instances, the diamonds stick together in their tray or container. To unstick diamond drills, wash the drills in soap and warm water then dry them with paper towels
• Place a light pad under the canvas – use a light pad to enhance the canvas from underneath. The light pad will highlight areas where the drills are misaligned so you can clearly see where to make corrections