~ KatHeiman

This project is great for a weekend simply because it takes about two to three days to complete, depending on availability of supplies.

For this, you will need …

• One large tackboard (Mine was somewhere around 2×3 feet)
  
• Two paint brushes, one large, one small
  
• Small bottles of acrylic paint in whatever colors you will need
  
• String
  
• Pencil (NOT PEN! It shows through the white and yellow paint, no matter what!)
  
• Thumbtacks
  
• Yardstick
  
• A medium sized plate
  
• A black permanent marker
  

First, find a large table or a room with a large amount of floor you can sit on. If you have pets, it’s a good idea to keep them out of the room you’re working in. I painted on the floor with the tackboard leaning up against a wall, but you can do this however you feel most comfortable.

Oh, you’ll need to go to this web site: http://members.tripod.com/john.ohara/Flags.htm. I chose to do Lúthien, but you can do whatever you want. Be original! It’s not as hard as it looks to do ANY of these designs, but try to start simple.

NB – Admin note – this website is no longer available. You can instead search for images or visit a site such as lindefirion.

To do the ones that are a circle inside a square, go to step 4, but instead of measuring the string to the point of the square, go to the middle of a side. THEN make your circle.

1. Measure your tackboard and find the center (Draw lines from the middle of the top to the middle of the bottom, the repeat with the sides, and where they intersect is your center.)

2. Now, take the measurement from side to side with a piece of string. Fold it in half to find the middle, then match that middle to the center of the board. Pin that string vertically in place with the thumbtacks. Now you have an X (or a cross).

3. Connect the arms of the X, making 4 isosceles right triangles.

4. Now, take your string and pin one end to the center of the square. Stretch the string from the center to a point of the square, making the radius of your circle. Tie a pencil to the end of the string, then draw your circle.

5. Take the plate and center it as best you can, then trace around it. This is the center circle of the design.

From here, it’s all drawing. Try to keep everything symmetrical, and use guidelines if it helps. I can’t help you much on that part, but if you’re doing Lúthien, I can suggest what brands and colors are good to use. All my paints, except the green, are Delta Ceramcoat brand, and the green is Americana Deco Art. The colors are:

• 02513 Blueberry
  
• 02401 Light Ivory
  
• 02506 Black
  
• 02503 Bright Red
  
• DA51 Leaf Green
  

The yellow I had was not good at all, and I had to mix colors for the right color. So try to find a good yellow. (If you find one, please PM me.)

After you finish all your painting, go over all the lines with the black permanent marker. It makes it look almost like stained glass.

This isn’t a horribly hard project, it just involves some drawing and geometry skills. But the end result is quite beautiful!