Crafts from natural materials: a panel of shells

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

Author's products made from natural materials can decorate the interior of almost any room. They can be made not only for yourself, but also as a gift to loved ones. In such things there is a special energy, warmth, because the author puts a piece of his soul into the creation of the product.

Shells - material for creativity

Shells collected on the seashore are a wonderful craft material. Making panels from shells with your own hands is an exciting hobby, and for some, even a source of income. To create such a product, special skills and abilities are not required. The main thing is a sufficient amount of material, imagination and patience.

It is worth remembering that shells are a material of increased fragility. It requires special care. In the process of work, especially in the absence of proper experience, some of the shells will inevitably deteriorate and break. Don't be upset, it's normal.

Shells, especially if they were collected by yourself on the coast, will evoke pleasant memories in you. A carefree vacation, a warm sea, a comfortable beach - a picture of shells will be associated with all this.

A useful activity for adults and children

Making panels from shells is possible not only for adults, but also for children. Moreover, such an activity will bring a lot of benefits to the child. Creating paintings from natural materials develops creativity, perseverance, imagination, as well as fine motor skills and imagination.

Young children can be encouraged to fix the shells on the base with plasticine, not glue. It's easier to deal with and has the ability to change the painting if you don't like it.

Before you start working with a child, you need to show him how a panel of shells will look like in a photo, picture or sketch. Let him approve the idea chosen by the adult. In this case, the child will have an increased interest in the lesson and the motivation to complete what he started.

Children need to be taught how to handle material carefully. Shells can not only crack when squeezed too hard. They can also injure the child with the sharp side.

Determining the idea

By connecting your imagination, you can create a panel of shells with your own hands on almost any topic. After all, with their help you can fill the contour of any image. The main thing is to think about how to beat it, how to supplement it, so that you get a whole work. However, this is just one of the ideas. Sometimes, on the basis, they simply create a composition of shells in which there is no definite contour, and this makes it look no worse. Hearts, flowers, landscapes, the seabed, fish, aquariums, seahorses, still lifes - a panel of shells candisplay any topic.

Preparatory work

Before you start creating a panel of seashells, you need to do some preparatory work. If you collected the shells yourself, they need to be washed of sand and dried, and if they were bought in a set, then they are ready for use in creative work. The next step is sorting by variety and size. It is advisable to use shells of different shapes to make the picture more interesting.

Next, you need to decide what other materials will be used to create the picture. Seashells go well with beads, sand, pebbles, twigs, beads, sea moss, ropes, decorative netting, burlap.

For the panel you will also need a base made of plywood or thick cardboard, glue, a frame. You can use acrylic paints, stain to paint shells in the desired color, or you can do without them. It is very convenient to use a glue gun for gluing parts, especially if the shell panel is being created for the first time. It will make your work more accurate. Should I cover the finished painting with acrylic varnish? This is a matter of taste and personal preference. There is an opinion that the product, covered with varnish, looks more finished.

Panel of shells with your own hands: the stages of creation

First, decide on the theme and plot

Next, you need to put a sketch on the base. This can be a freehand drawing, drawing an outline of a scanned image, or simply marking with a pencil

If coloring is scheduledshells, then you must first complete it, let the material dry well, and only then stick it on the base

The objects from which the picture will be composed must be placed on the basis, to fill in the contours with them. This part of the work is similar to folding a mosaic. You may have to spend a lot of time to achieve the perfect picture

The next step is gluing shells and other components to the base. For this, PVA glue or plasticine is used

When the shell panel is almost ready, you need to frame it and, if desired, varnish it

Those who have not had experience in creating paintings from shells before, for the first work, you should not choose some idea that is difficult in terms of execution. Not always what is difficult looks more beautiful. The main thing is to create a panel with a soul, and then it will delight you or your loved ones with its beauty and uniqueness.