String Pull Painting: How to Make Pulled String Art

String pull painting is a quick chance technique that produces surprisingly elegant results. You soak a piece of string in paint, lay it inside a folded sheet, press down and pull it out. When you open the paper, the dragged paint has formed feathery, flower-like or flame-like shapes, usually mirrored on both halves. It is a favourite in primary classrooms, but adult artists use it too, as a fast way to generate shapes to draw into, in the same spirit as froissage.

What happens when you pull

As the string slides out between the two pressed surfaces, it drags paint along with it. Where you press hardest, the paint is squeezed sideways into fine, branching streaks; where the pressure is light, the string leaves a softer trail. Loops in the string become petal and feather shapes; straight runs become stems and flames. Because the paint transfers to both halves of the folded paper, the result is often symmetrical, like an inkblot.

You control a lot: the colours, the length of string, the loops you lay down, the speed and angle of the pull. You do not control the exact pattern. That half-control is what connects string pulling to the chance techniques covered on this site, from decalcomania to froissage. Tate’s glossary entry on automatism explains how the Surrealists valued methods that let images arise without full conscious control.

A one-off print

Every pull makes a single, unrepeatable image, so string pulling is a form of printmaking. Tate’s glossary describes a monotype as a print that can be made only once, because the image is painted onto a plate and transferred rather than cut into it. String pull painting works in a similar way: paint on a surface, pressure, transfer, and no two prints alike. If you enjoy it, the next steps are crease printing and dab printing in our guide to crumpled paper printing.

Materials

• String: medium cotton string or embroidery thread, cut into lengths of about 40 to 50 cm.
• Paint: fluid acrylic or poster paint, thinned to the thickness of single cream. Liquid watercolour works for paler effects.
• Paper: smooth paper or thin card; A4 is a good size to start.
• Shallow dishes for the paint, one per colour.
• A spoon or a lolly stick to push the string under the paint.
• Newspaper and wipes. This is a messy technique.

Step by step

1. Fold and open. Fold the sheet in half and open it flat.
2. Load the string. Dip the string in paint, holding one end clean. Draw it through two fingers or over the edge of the dish to remove drips.
3. Lay it down. Arrange the painted string on one half of the sheet in loops, curves or zigzags. Leave the clean end hanging off the bottom edge.
4. Close and press. Fold the other half over. Lay one hand flat on the paper and press firmly.
5. Pull. With the other hand, pull the string out in one smooth movement. Try pulling straight down, then on the next attempt pulling to the side or with a wiggle.
6. Open. Peel the sheet open. Let it dry flat.

For a second colour, wait until the first is touch-dry, load a fresh string, and repeat.

Getting different shapes

• Flowers: lay the string in a spiral or a cluster of loops near the fold and pull straight down. The loops spread into petals; the tail becomes a stem.
• Feathers and wings: lay the string in a single long S-curve and pull slowly with a slight side-to-side movement.
• Flames: use red, orange and yellow strings laid in upward curves and pull quickly.
• Trees: lay a long straight run with short branches off it and pull towards the trunk.
• Abstract patterns: use two or three strings of different colours at once and pull them in different directions.

Common mistakes

• Blobs instead of lines. Too much paint on the string. Strip off more before laying it down.
• Faint, broken marks. Paint too thick, or not enough pressure. Thin the paint slightly and press harder.
• String tears the paper. The paper is too thin or wet. Use thin card, or less watery paint.
• Muddy colour. Too many colours on one sheet. Two or three are usually enough.

The looking stage

When the print is dry, turn it in all directions. Many children see butterflies, beetles, angels, faces or dragons straight away. This is pareidolia, the same response that makes us see figures in clouds and in the creases of a crumpled sheet; our page on pareidolia in art explores it. Add a few details with a fine pen, such as antennae, eyes or a ground line, but keep them light so the pulled shapes remain the stars.

Variations once you know the basics

When the basic fold-and-pull works, small changes to the set-up produce very different marks:

• Two strings, one pull. Lay two strings of different colours side by side and pull them together. The lines braid and cross, and the colours mix only where they touch.
• Pull sideways. Instead of pulling straight down towards the open edge, pull along the fold. The marks stretch into long, flame-like streaks rather than petals.
• Unfolded string prints. Do not fold the paper at all. Lay the string on one sheet, cover it with a second sheet, press with a book and pull. You get two different prints at once, one on each sheet, without mirror symmetry.
• Dark paper, light paint. White, yellow or metallic paint on black or dark blue paper makes the lines glow, which suits winter and night-sky themes.
• Layering. Let the first print dry, then pull a second colour across it in a different direction. Two layers are usually enough; more tends to become muddy.

From print to picture

A string print becomes much more interesting when you treat it as a starting point rather than a finished piece, the same way froissage artists treat their creased sheets. Once it is dry, choose the shape you see most clearly and develop it: outline a butterfly in fine black pen, add eyes and legs to a beetle, or paint a background around a flower so it sits in a garden. The exercise of finding images in unplanned marks links string painting to the Surrealist method of automatic drawing, where the pen moves first and the looking comes afterwards. For another printed chance pattern that children love, try bubble painting, and for the folded-blot technique the Surrealists used, see decalcomania.

Classroom tips

• Set up stations with one colour each, so strings do not mix colours.
• Give each child a fresh string for each colour; used strings can dry on a line for reuse.
• Pair children: one presses, one pulls, then swap. Pulling cleanly while pressing is easier for two.
• Combine with blow painting with straws and the watercolor salt technique for a lesson on different kinds of chance marks.
• Older pupils can compare the symmetry of string prints with the symmetry of decalcomania and inkblots, then contrast both with the irregular lines of how to do froissage.