Ironically, even though I got all those stones drilled for pendants a couple of days ago, I didn't end up painting any of them... yet.
Instead, I "warmed up" a bit on some recent beach finds:
I don't find a lot of pale stones that are also super smooth... this was an exception.
I may have set a new personal "record" for turnaround time... yesterday before sunset we took a quick stroll on our local beach, and my wife picked up this one. And earlier today I felt inspired to paint it.
Turned out pretty well, I think.
One of the ways I like to "warm up" when I have been away from painting stones for a while is to work with some of our smallest stones.
They take less than 10 minutes to complete, and I don't end up getting too annoyed of I end up making a mistake or two.
Of course, none of the stones actually "go to waste;" if I do make a mistake, they simply end up as decoration in our garden.
These little stones are actually very popular at shows and events because we sell them for just $6.00 each.
The above is a little more typical of what happens with the pale stones I try to paint.
Although it turned out just OK the surface was both too round and had too many little buckles and pockmarks, and so the lines end up not looking straight or even.
We'll still take it to the show, but not my best effort. I'm a bit out of practice!
Mustered enough confidence to end the day with a larger design, and it turned out quite well. Nice and super-smooth stone, allowing for very detailed and accurate design.
That one is about 3 1/2" across and took about four hours of actual painting work, all told... although I had to pause several times to go away and rest my eyes for a while.
It'll look even better once it gets its clear finish coat. This will end up as about a $50-60 stone, depending on how much I still like it, once it's finished.
All in all, not such a bad day!
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2022.07.08 AS-TXT-107/073