I look for specific attributes in rocks. Size, shape, even color. I look to see if there are major blemishes that can’t be worked around. I usually find rocks at our local garden center and go through piles of rocks to find the ones that please me.
(No molded or cast cement or plaster stones for me - I prefer to use the uniqueness of each rock to guide me. Perfect is boring!)
Then I decide the background color.
I look at the rock after is is throughly washed and dried and wait for it to tell me what color it wants to be. (Seriously!)
I typically use black or white - but occasionally I use other colors. Black is the easiest to work with. I use an outdoor acrylic paint that has UV protection and will withstand weather onslaughts if placed outside.
White rocks are the hardest. These rocks require four separate coats that need to dry throughly before the next application.
Once I am satisfied with the background, I again study the rock to decide what type of design I’m going to paint. Offset? Centered? I think about the color scheme, but don’t usually plan the complete design ahead of time. I let the rock guide me.
It is so easy to get lost in painting and dotting rocks and I am blessed that I am able to paint. It’s an even bigger blessing that there is beginning to be a demand for my rocks - enough that I can open my storefront.
Besides selling rocks, I gift them, and abandon them - hiding them in obscure places in my hometown.
What a pleasure it is to find out that a rock was loved enough to be taken home with the person who discovered it!
I hope you enjoy my rock art as much as I enjoy creating it!
