How to Make Diorama
Almost all elementary school students make a diorama at some point in their grade school career. A diorama is an art project that brings a scene to life in 3-D, usually made out of a shoebox or small cardboard box. Dioramas invite the eye into the scene by containing glued pictures or colorful backgrounds painted onto the interior back and sides of the box, and are decorated inside with figures or animals depicting the scene being portrayed. Visualizing your ideal diorama before beginning the process will yield a more creative result.
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Things You'll Need
- Shoebox
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Glue
- Scissors
- Magazine cutouts
- Small figurines
- Small fake plants
Instructions
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1
Choose the theme of your diorama. Let's say it's a tropical jungle scene. Make a list of all the things you'd like to include in your scene: vines, monkeys, insects, mud, etc. Visit your art supply store to pick up the items, or make items by hand. Keep in mind, you want everything in the box to be the same scale---tiny animals should match tiny plants---to keep it looking realistic.
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2
Paint and decorate the interior background of your box first. With a jungle scene, for example, use green paint. You could also print out jungle photos from the Internet, or cut foliage photos from magazines and glue them around the entire interior of the box. Let dry.
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3
Concentrate on the floor of your box. What would line the floor in the foreground and background of your 3-D scene? In the jungle diorama, adding mud to the bottom of the box would simulate the muddy ground of a tropical jungle.
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4
Use the ceiling of your box in a natural way to add dimension. For the jungle, attach vines from the top of the box, hanging them down to the floor of the box. Add tropical flowers or photos of tropical flowers attached to the vines to make them look abundant. Arrange the vines so they look realistic.
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5
Add in your objects to the floor of your box. Glue in animals, rocks, or plants to the floor of the box. Let dry.
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Tips & Warnings
The more detail you use in a diorama, the better it looks. Covering the walls and background completely helps viewers visualize the scene.
