"Industrial" String Art

I'm loving the string art craze right now.

It's fun to see the unique versions popping up on Pinterest.

I've made a few before, (you can see one in this post,) but I wanted to have another go at it, 

and I wanted to go bigger.

I love the look of the string, but what if it more closely resembled wire to make it "industrial?" 

A few coats of metallic spray paint are just the ticket. 

What you'll need:

Wood (I used basic plywood – roughly 2-feet-by-1.5-feet)

Metallic spray paint

Small nails

String

Hammer

Scissors 

Pencil

I started this project late at night and didn't take proper how-to pictures.

(I did, however, probably wake the neighbors.)

Here's a better-than-nothing tutorial with sketches.

Start with a nice sanded, clean piece of wood.

1.
Determine your image, and trace it on the wood.

(Don't work about any trace marks — you'll paint over them soon enough.)

2.
Determine how far apart you want your nails. I went with roughly a quarter of an inch between them.

If you want things more precise, measure out each nail point with a ruler.

Now, get to town nailing! This is the most time consuming  — and loud — part of the project. 

Don't do it at 10 p.m. like I did.

3.

Tie off one end of the string to a nail at your starting point. Then, begin to weave tautly from one nail to another. There's no special trick to this, but do make sure to hit up every nail at least once. 

I found that occasionally wrapping the the string twice around a nail helps prevent slipping.

Wrap the string around the outside of the nails for a finished look.
 Knot off the string and clip the ends.

4.
Lastly, douse that puppy in spray paint.
I used Krylon metallic silver. It took several coats — and special attention to the string from all angles —
to get everything covered in paint.

And that's it!
Add some hanging hardware to the back, or lean it against the wall like I did.
I'm very happy with the end result: An industrial take on string art that's easy peasy.

 Happy crafting!

_______

HH