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What Does Diamond Painting Full Drill Mean?
It can seem overwhelming trying to understand all the different aspects of diamond painting. While the hobby is similar to painting by numbers in that you can simply follow the instructions provided to apply colored rhinestones onto a canvas, there are so many terms and choices that can throw new hobby members for a loop.
One of those may be the term “full drill”. If you are wondering: “What does diamond painting full drill mean?”, then you are not alone. As an expert, I get this question every so often, so I thought it was time to answer it thoroughly and in a way that is easy to find for those searching for answers.
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Is Your Canvas Full Drill?
When you shop for diamond painting canvases, trying to pick out the most beautiful or the most interesting one, you may notice that some of them are classified as being “full”. You might be concerned that this could mean the ones that aren’t full are missing parts, but that’s not what it means at all.
“Full drill” just tells you that your diamond drills will take up the entire printed picture and not leave any empty spaces. The full drill diamond painting meaning refers to a canvas that is almost entirely covered in diamonds. Your typical full drill painting has 90% diamond coverage, with the outside border being the only part not covered, once the painting is complete.
Is Full or Partial Coverage Better?
You have two choices for coverage when it comes to diamond art. You can pick either full or partial coverage. Most canvases will be full paintings, with the diamonds covering every last inch of the picture. Some people prefer that because of the way the finished picture glitters all over rather than just in key areas.
Others prefer the partial coverage because it is less work, so it doesn’t take as long to complete. Instead of complete coverage, the diamonds just cover key areas, which can make for an interesting finished painting. However, that might not be to your liking.
You’ll have to determine which you prefer. There are some advantages to both of these, so I want to lay them out for you here:
Full Drill
- More complete picture
- A more engaging activity
- Shinier
- No empty spaces
Partial Drill
- Takes less time
- Easier for beginners
- Not as tiring
So, it’s not a matter of one being better than the other. Once you understand the full drill diamond painting meaning, you can see that picking either a partial or a full painting comes down to preference, really.
(Image Reflection in the Park)
The more experienced diamond painters tend to choose full drill beads painting. They can place the diamond drills quickly, so it’s not a problem for them to complete a full drill painting in a reasonable amount of time.
Beginners may struggle with the placement process, finding it tough to put diamonds perfectly where they go every time. They may have to constantly adjust the diamonds with tweezers because of the difficulty in getting the diamonds to sit just right in their slots.
I know that when I first started with this hobby, I was frustrated by the larger, full drill paintings. It seemed like it took so long to complete the pictures, and I felt like giving up after a while. That’s just how it is for new diamond painters who are starting out.
I preferred the partial drill paintings at first. It gave me a sense of accomplishment to finish them quickly without a lot of effort on my part. Once I got good at this, though, I craved a challenge, and full paintings seemed to scratch that particular itch for me.
It may be the same way for you- maybe starting off small and easy with the partial paintings is the way to go. Then, later on, you can graduate to full drill paintings and get more satisfaction out of them and the effort that has to go in to complete them.
What Is Full Drill 5D Diamond Painting?
Most diamond painting is 3D painting, but you may occasionally come across 5D painting. My first thought when I came across that was wondering what kind of sense it would engage. When we think of 3D images or videos, we think of how they stand out to us and have depth, which paintings do already. 5D or 4D media may engage other senses beyond the eyes, like the nose or a sense of touch.
5D diamond painting isn’t like that, though. The 5D refers to how many facets are on each side of the rhinestone. So, a 3D diamond drill has three sides, each with three facets. A 5D one then has three sides with five facets on each side. This makes for a more sparkly, textured look that I think is really beautiful.
Now, imagine those sparkly, shimmery, beautiful 5D diamonds not just covering part of a canvas and part of the picture but the entire thing! It would be pretty amazing, right? The full drill 5D diamond painting looks amazing, having the entire picture covered from top to bottom with the sparkly, 5-faceted diamonds.
This is basically the most amazing you can make a painting look, at least in my opinion, and a lot of diamond painting enthusiasts agree. When you really want your finished painting to explode with color and have a shimmery sheen to it, you can’t go wrong with a full drill covering of diamonds, all with the spectacular 5D features that stand out so well.
What Is the Pasting Area?
Another question that is related to what I have been telling you about has to do with the pasting area. You might be wondering just what that area is, and that refers to the part of the canvas that diamonds are supposed to be applied to.
The pasting area is sticky so that the diamonds will stay in place, even when you move the canvas around and perhaps even frame it on a wall (which looks amazing, by the way!). The pasting area may also have grooves for the diamonds to go into. The pasting area also has numbers on it corresponding to the diamonds you are supposed to place on the canvas. It’s kind of like paint-by-numbers in that sense.
The non-pasting area is just an empty canvas. It can have part of the picture on it, but it would no way to place diamonds there. They won’t stick to the non-pasting area. So, for full drill diamond paintings, the entire picture is the pasting area. For the partial drill diamond paintings, the pasting area is only on those parts of the picture where the diamonds are supposed to go.
Your Choices for Diamond Paintings
I talked earlier about there being lots of choices for those who want to get into this fantastic art. More than just understanding the full drill diamond painting meaning, you may also want to know the difference between round and square diamonds.
This is one of the big choices you will have to make, and most experts will say to start out with round ones if you are a beginner. They are easy to use, and they are not going to take up as much space as the square ones do on the canvas. So, you have some empty spaces, which means fewer diamonds on the painting overall. That may be something you prefer or not. Some people like to see every space used up and their entire canvas filled, especially if they are getting a full drill diamond painting.
The square ones are good for that, as they don’t leave any empty space on the canvas. Now, square drills are considered a bit harder to work with, and the packing has to be perfect for them to fit. The round ones are a bit more lenient, which is why they are good for beginners. If you are experienced at diamond painting, though, then you may want to use the square drills, especially to make a full drill diamond painting look its best.
You can choose between different sizes of canvas as well. The smaller ones are probably good for beginner painters, whereas the larger ones work well for more experienced painters who want a good challenge.
I’m so glad I was able to answer this common question about “What does diamond painting full drill mean?”, and I hope you find this information helpful as you try to choose the right kind of painting. Be sure to send me any other questions about diamond painting that you might have. I’m eager to help people learn more about this exciting hobby.
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