Diamond paintings come in many different sizes, ranging from 12×8 inches to 64×40 inches. Large paintings are more clearly defined than small ones. The smaller the size of the painting, the less detailed the finished image will be, while the larger the size, the more realistic the image will appear.
Diamond Painting Sizes
The most common diamond painting sizes are grouped according to small, medium, large, and extra-large, with each group containing several different dimensions. Medium diamond art paintings are the most popular because this size allows a wide variety of picture styles.
Medium sizes range from 16×16 inches up to 32×24 inches and are suitable for many different types of images. Medium-sized paintings are good for people who are gaining some practice at the craft.
Small and medium sizes are good for beginners because they can be finished quickly and beginner crafters won’t become discouraged by the time a painting takes to complete. Completing a diamond painting and seeing the finished product is satisfying and motivates crafters to want more.
Smaller diamond paintings are cheaper than larger ones because less material is needed for the canvas and fewer diamonds are needed to complete the painting. However, smaller paintings are less detailed than larger sizes.
Smaller sizes are suitable for paintings containing a single image or a landscape that doesn’t need precise detail because the image is often pixelated, in small paintings, decreasing the clarity.
More detailed images are better suited to large or extra-large paintings because the image will be clearer and more realistic. However, large and extra-large diamond paintings take a lot of skill, experience, and patience, so these painting sizes are recommended only for people who have practiced this skill and find smaller paintings easy.
Diamond paintings of faces or animals are most suited to large sizes that display details of the features of each face or animal. Parts of a face, like the eyes or lips, are more clearly defined and are more precise in a larger painting.
Diamond Painting Canvas Size
Diamond painting kits include the correct-sized canvas, so you don’t need to worry about finding the right canvas size. However, it is possible to do a diamond painting on a canvas with a cross stitch pattern which means you’ll need to choose the correct size of the canvas.
To calculate the size of the canvas you need for a cross stitch pattern, first check the number of stitches in the horizontal and vertical lines. If this information isn’t written on the pattern, count the stitches across and down.
Check the size of your drills. Most are .25x.25 centimeters. Multiply the number of stitches by the size of the beads, and add an extra 1.2 inches (3 cm) for framing.
For example, if the pattern has 250 vertical stitches and 200 horizontal stitches, 250 multiplied by .25 equals 62.5, and 200 multiplied by .25 equals 50. So, you need a canvas of 65.5×53 centimeters or 26×21 inches.
Make sure that you choose a canvas size that matches the picture’s aspect ratio. If the picture is a square, the aspect ratio is 1:1, meaning that all sides should be equal in length. If the vertical side is twice as long as the horizontal side, the ratio is 2:1.
If the ratio of the picture doesn’t match the ratio of the canvas, the picture will need to be cropped, which isn’t always successful because important details from the picture may be cut off. Therefore, you should always make sure that you choose the right size canvas for your painting.
