There is something so elegant about a harlequin pattern. I love creating it on my pieces for a fancy style that compliments a lot of my designs. I’ve tried quite a few techniques when it comes to doing a harlequin pattern on furniture. I have used a ruler and drawn the lines and then painted within by hand. This takes a steady hand and lots of patience. Though I find it meditative to do it this way, I can understand why that may not be a preferred method for you. Yes, there are harlequin stencils you can buy and use. I’ve been asked why don’t I just stencil it?
It’s a bit of basic geometry to create a harlequin pattern. You want to imagine a square or the rectangle on the surface of where you are painting the pattern. Depending on whether your surface is more of a square or rectangle the height and width of your diamonds will vary. You want to start with a master line from which all your other lines will use as a marker. The master lines will be from point A to B and from point C to D. You can use a ruler and draw the line or this is where you will tape to create a perfect line that reaches each opposite point.
From the master lines, you begin to create all you other lines using the width of the ruler as a measurement of size by laying it next to the master line, following it along the sides perfectly to draw your line or using your painter’s tape as the width aligning each piece of painter’s tape next to each other starting from the master lines. The diamonds will be painted every other line or else it will just be a solid area of color with no alternating diamonds. If you are using tape you peel off every other painter’s tape from each direction to form the diamond pattern. If using a ruler you just make all the lines in each direction and paint every other diamond. I know this sounds confusing but my videos will give you a step by step tutorial on how to do this.
See how the diamonds have now formed? So when you paint in the untaped spaces it will form the diamond you see. If using a ruler your lines will look like this and you simply will paint in every adjoining diamond going across and vertical thus giving you the harlequin pattern. You will then do step 2 which is taping over the diamonds you just painted after they have dried so you are not painting over them again and instead of the ones adjacent that form a harlequin pattern. After doing step 2 you will have your perfect harlequin pattern.
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Thank you for sharing this. Always look forward to learning techniques from you!
Thank you, I hope it helps.
Harlequin is neither square or tectangle, tather diamond shaped?
Yes traditionally