
BENGALURU: Across social media, rises a new art form with glimpses of shimmering images, reshaping the art and craft world. Diamond painting, which involves placing tiny resins on an adhesive pre-printed design to create a mosaic-style art, is an emerging art form gaining popularity. Whether it’s the rhythmic placement of tiny resins or witnessing the beauty of one’s labour of time, it is becoming a creative new hobby among all the art and craft lovers in the city.
People in Bengaluru find solace in this emerging craft for different reasons. Zoya Jamal, a 15-year-old student, who has been a diamond painting enthusiast for five years, relates it to ‘me-time’. “It gives me a bit of time to myself when I want to sit alone and do something. It’s quite mindless. So, I can listen to podcasts or music,” says Jamal. She adds on to its therapeutic purpose stating how it is like art therapy. “It’s sort of a monotonous action, so your brain can relax and think,” she says.
For artist Neha Nagpal, this is both an addictive and therapeutic art. “I dedicate at least one hour daily to it, and I’ve realised it helps me detach from whatever else is going on in my life for that period as I’m so focused on the painting.” Focusing on its benefits and beginner friendliness, she says, “It helps in releasing stress, improves motor skills and most importantly anyone can do a diamond painting, and you don’t have to be born with an artistic flair to do this kind of painting.”
Another reason people choose this is for focus. Parents choose this craft for their children to increase their attention span. “I truly believe that it helps with focus and guides people into art. If you give a plain canvas to someone, they won’t know what exactly to do. So, diamond painting helps with that focus,” says Isha Rashmi Closepet, marketing head of Itsy Bitsy, an arts and crafts store.
Labour of Art
Diamond painting is usually considered a time-consuming craft that requires prolonged dedication and patience compared to other forms of art and craft. Beginners can start with something small and later move on to different sizes depending on their interests. This intricate and detail-oriented art can take hours or months to complete a painting depending on the size and time you choose.
But for data scientist Naren Sundaravaradan, the craft was comparatively easy, unlike other hobbies. “I never knew about this until my wife told me about it. Then, I got to see all the videos on the internet and how big this phenomenon is. It was really easy to get into, unlike a lot of other hobbies,” explains Sundaravaradan.
One misconception about this art is that it can only be done on canvas, but interestingly, apart from a canvas on the wall, one can also make things like keychains or coasters with diamond painting. “It’s the adhesive that matters. If the glue is able to stick on it, then any material can be used. We also want to see if we can do it on MDF boards (Medium Density Fibre boards) as that would be very nice for home decor,” says Closepet.
What is diamond painting?
Diamond painting, which involves placing tiny resins on an adhesive pre-printed design to create a mosaic-style art, is an emerging art form gaining popularity. Whether it’s the rhythmic placement of tiny resins or witnessing the beauty of one’s labour of time, it is becoming a creative new hobby among all the art and craft lovers in the city.