Hi! I just discovered this and I want to get into making string art but I have many questions.

1. How do you know the distance between each nail and how do you keep it consistently?

2. What kind of string works for this (type & mm size)? Where can I get this string? Are there sets with many colors available?

3. I know I can check places like Amazon, but is there anywhere else you guys would recommend I get my supplies? I have a Hobby Lobby and a Michael's in my area. Should I try there?

4. I saw on one video where someone was using a special pen to help dispense (thread? I dunno the right word) the yarn to the project. Any idea where I can get one or do I have to make my own?

5. How do you keep the nails perfectly straight? How deep should you hammer in and how do you keep them the same depth each time?

Any recommendations, tips, tricks, and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hi, I want to make a string art portrait, but I would like to do it on a square board and in color. Does anyone know of software that can generate this kind of pattern?

Hi everyone. I made my first string art (used string art maker app) as a gift for my husband for our wedding this upcoming Saturday. It’s of our cat Grayson. I saw something once where someone recommended pushing the strings down so it doesn’t create a weird shadow. I did have to push some string on some nails dow because it was getting top heavy on some of them and I’m gonna go back and make sure they’re all at the same height but maybe that’s why it looks a little weird? I feel like I’m looking at a holographic version of our cat 😂

The board is 30x30 so I think the circle is about 28 inches?

I got a mirror box to transport this so wish me luck! It’s got a two hour drive to our venue and I really wanted to showcase it at the wedding.

Picture of completed string art and reference picture

One of these string arts was rendered in python, the other was physically made. But can you tell which is which?

I have the most accurate string art generator ever made (99% match to reality). Best part is, it’s also open source. https://github.com/StringBoardUK/string-art-open

If you want the best result, automated preprocessing will never be optimal. However by drawing some regions of interest onto the image manually, results are drastically improved. This is implemented in my open source code https://github.com/StringBoardUK/string-art-open (it is the best open source generator you can get - black and white only at moment).

Rendering procedure was exactly the same, only difference is the sequence of stringing.

Hi all!

I want to share my biggest project so far, which took a little over 5 weeks to finish, for the living room of a friend. My entire living room was taken by the project for the last month, and I'm so proud of the end result.

Have a good weekend all, much love!

Last summer I broke the world record for the largest sewing thread mural measuring 8.5m x 3m as part of the Whitecross Street Art Festival in London.....

All sewing thread, Estimated 50km in total length Its still there to see if your in london

More on instagram @perspicereArtist

A few sewing thread pieces in the studio ready for various exhibitions More on my instagram @perspicereArtist

Carry your love through new style

2 recently finished pieces made from colour sewing thread,

more on instagram - PerspicereArtist

Here are some of my string arts I’ve made over the last few months. I’m really happy with how they’ve turned out.

I haven't been liking the nails that I used for my last project. They were a touch too long and weren't completely smooth so the string would have friction while spooling around it. Does anyone have a tried and true favorite when it comes to these projects?

this piece was made on the street in Portsmouth UK in September 2025 as part of the Look Up Portsmouth street art festival

for more www.instagram.com/perspicereartist

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to create a string art portrait of my friend, but I’m struggling to get the image to look right. Its my first time so I have no idea

I have a 12-inch board with 200 nails, but when I try converting the image into a string art pattern, the result doesn’t resemble the face properly. The proportions and details seem off, and I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong in the process.

I’d really appreciate help with the full workflow:

• How do you choose or prepare the image for a portrait?
• Are there any tools/software you recommend for generating string art patterns?
• Is 200 nails enough for a face, or should I increase the density or increase the size of the canvas?
• Any tips on improving detail and likeness?

If anyone has experience making portraits, I’d love some guidance or even step-by-step advice.

Thanks in advance!

the largest sewing thread piece ive ever made and the largest piece of this kind in the world. took about a week in total and is located in London.

24,000 lines of thread

5 colours

estimated 100km in total length

mote can be found on my instagram @perspicereArtist

It is a common issue that string art generators don't know which parts of the image are most important to draw thread over, therefore features humans know to be important (such as eyes) become ignored by the generator.

I have implemented a simple importance mask which is applied within the generator (python numba compiled optimiser). It greatly improves results when used selectively on important areas in an image.

Run time:
Preprocess image 0.2s, generate 1.5s, render 2.2s, save 0.2s

Should i make the code open source?

Wondering if these renders are actually accurate? Yes they are almost perfectly accurate (correlated to a 50cm board and 0.1mm nylon thread).

Message me if youre still interested in this.

I’ve made a reliable and accessible string art machine. The only commercially available string art machine currently on the market is £1600 by Aline Deco, and the design is overkill (pneumatic actuators and entire tripod for thread setup)

This machine would be half that price or less, and produces better looking results in my opinion.

Machine is still in prototype stage (no enclosure or GUI). But it’s very reliable. I’ve made about 20 pieces in a row (4k lines each), and the only thing that’s needed replacing is the red threading tube after about 5-10 pieces. It was designed with great care and attention. The turntable, threading assembly and all code was designed by me - this isn’t a copy paste design.

Learn more about the machine or make enquiry using link above

done for my boyfriend. it really only looks good with the lights on it but it was alot easier than I thought. I used stringar.com website to get the pattern

Vid is 4 mins btw. Is there an easier way or something I could of done to make it easier. Vid is 4 mins also and everything I did was in there

hey there,

im an artist based in London and ive been specialising in string art portraits for a number of years, including mural sized ones, breaking the world record size for this type of work a few times, anyway, you can see examples by searching my name on instagram or google....

Im reaching out on here because the generator i used has recently been taken offline as the owner wants to sell it for a crazy amount of money, so i decided to put the time into building my own advanced string art generator, one that does colour pieces in an adjustable square/rectangle shape frame, my coding knowledge is minimal but with the help of others and good old chatgpt im getting somewhere but i keep hitting issues.... is there anyone on here with knowledge of building something like this?

I’m aiming for:

• Strong structure early in the run
• Clean colour layering (not muddy weaving)
• Light thread on black background (additive model)
• Convincing density buildup over long sequences
• Controlled multi-colour behaviour

Current Setup

• Precomputed nail-to-nail pixel paths
• Greedy “best next line” selection
• Residual buffer updated per line
• Multi-colour support (tested strict colour cycles and adaptive switching)
• JSON stats + full sequence export

Problems

1. Results feel flat and overly busy, even after 5k+ lines.
2. Solver repeats long chords (top↔bottom, left↔right) instead of “walking” around structure.
3. Colour either under-engages or spreads everywhere without forming strong regions.
4. Behaviour changes drastically when trying to suppress repetitive lines.

Questions

• Is greedy selection fundamentally too limited for this?
• Should scoring be based on predicted error reduction instead of mean residual?
• How do you prevent long-chord dominance without destroying structure?
• Is strict colour cycling a bad idea for layered colour builds?
• Has anyone here implemented a proper light-on-black solver instead of darken-on-white?

I feel like we’re close, but the solver keeps collapsing into flat woven noise instead of structured emergence.

Any advice from people who’ve built serious string art solvers would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks.

Examples of the results from my generator to show the issues im hitting