Episode 409 of the CMP, a Creativity Matters Podcast — some painted rocks discussion, a bit of wander, and a short timed draw along on a Saturday morning
In this episode of the CMP, painted rocks take center stage for the intro. I always go and look at the profile (stream) of people who follow me at Instagram, and in looking at an account recently, I was met with awesome painted rocks. I then tripped right into the rabbit hole in looking at the “you might also like” accounts…. lots and lots and lots of people who paint rocks. So many painted rocks!
I can think of many times I’ve talked about painted rocks. I considered a painted rock as a 50 Before 50 list item last year (something I thought would be simple, whimsical, and meaningful). But it didn’t end up on the list. I’ve never done it – or at least not as an adult. Browsing these painted rock feeds was fun. There are so many beautiful, whimsical, and affirming examples. People paint scenes, words, imagined creatures, everyday objects, mandalas, and more on rocks. And, even better, leaving the rocks in public to be discovered is a thing. A found rock can be kept or placed somewhere else for someone else to find. What a beautiful thing (right along with things like origami cranes left in public or even random notes left in library books). I’ve linked to several of the accounts below that I browsed, but there are many others.
Scribble Stones (Diane Alber) is a children’s book that has repeatedly come up in my searches at Amazon. I know it was coming up last year, but this summer, I’ve linked to several Diane Alber books as part of my work curating children’s books to go with some summer STEM themes, titles like Sticks, Never Let a Unicorn Scribble!, and Never Let a Princess Paint with Her Unicorn! (Diane Alber). If you have children or read with children, definitely check your local library.
Mentioned in this Episode (or Related)
- Scribble Stones (Diane Alber)
- Never Let a Unicorn Scribble! (Diane Alber)
- Never Let a Princess Paint with Her Unicorn! (Diane Alber)
- Invisible Scribble (Diane Alber)
- A Little SPOT of Creativity: A Story Of Ideas! (Diane Alber)
- Sticks (Diane Alber)
- Wander (Episode 232)
- The Wander Society (Keri Smith)
- How to Be a Wildflower (372)
- How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum (Keri Smith)
- Books about Rock Painting
- Scribble Stones Art Guide: Step by Step Painting Techniques and Tricks
- The Art of Stone Painting: 30 Designs to Spark Your Creativity
- Stone Painting for Kids: Designs to Spark Your Creativity
- Rock Art!: Painting and Crafting with the Humble Pebble
- Rock Art Handbook: Techniques and Projects for Painting, Coloring, and Transforming Stones
- Rock Painting For Beginners: Simple Step-by-Step Techniques
- Rock Art Critters: Paint the Perfect Pebble
- A Year of Stone Painting: 52 Mandala Designs to Inspire Your Spirit
- The Art of Rock Painting: Techniques, Projects, and Ideas for Everyone
- Kindness Rocks Project – How To
- Intagram accounts for inspiration (and there are many, many more!)
- Instagram: @myra_romano_illustration
- Instagram: @thekindnessrocksproject
- Instagram: @jensimaginationrox
- Instagram: @jillfcsrocks
- Instagram: @amellearts
- Instagram: @_one_heart_beat_
- Instagram: @bowersrocksfl
- Instagram: @spread_good_vibes_az
- Instagram: @kindredspiritrocks2018
- Instagram: @stig_stones
- Instagram: @oahukindnessrocks
- Instagram: @rockingreenvalley
- Instagram: @rocking_stones_
- Instagram: @rocking.kk
- Instagram: @joyrocksireland
- Instagram: @jenevererocks
- Instagram: @pebbles2paperweights
- Instagram: @heart.of.rocks
- Instagram: @rockpaintingbyt
- Instagram: @s5kindnessrocks
- Instagram: @lorybugrocks
- Instagram: @createandcherish
- Instagram: @stonedbyjules (pet portraits!)
- How to Paint Rocks tutorials (there are lots of sites and posts…. and tons and tons of ad-driven blogs, so be prepared to scroll and scroll and scroll past ads in between every paragraph — I decided not to link to anything specific….. Google and browse)
A Readaloud of Diane Alber’s Scribble Stones:
Some Current Tools (or Tools Mentioned)
- Rocks (yep, you can order them from Amazon)
- Posca Paint Pens – lots of my favorite artists use Posca Pens in their work, and I noticed that many of the rock painting accounts I looked at talked about Posca Pens
- Rock painting kits – an option if you just want to give it a try or give the “idea” to kids or as a gift
- Uni-Gel Alpha Shaker pencil (mine is listed as “slightly firm” – but it’s super cushy; they do come in other softness/hardness ratings. I really do love this shaker!)
- Pentel Hi-Polymer Block Eraser, Large, White (these things disappear like socks; you can never have too many white erasers lying around)
- Moleskine Art Sketchbook (what I’m using for regular drawing)
- Thick white index cards (what I’m using for Index-Card-a-Day – ICAD 2020)
- Micron pens (what I’m using for ICAD this year)
- Preppy .02 (an excellent and inexpensive way to explore fountain pens for drawing — this is finer than the typical .03 Preppy you find in sets)
- Platinum carbon ink (great for drawing)
- Jinhao EF Shark Fountain Pens — a set of 12 (a fun approach!)
- Current ink picks on my wish list are in the magenta/pink/orange ranges
Show Information:
- Guitar music: Nicholai Heidlas on SoundCloud
- Creativity Matters Group at Facebook
- Patreon page
- oamyoamy at Instagram
- Try Creative Bug with the Living a More Creative Life: 30 Ways in 30 Days class
- Try Trello
- Buy me a Coffee with Ko-Fi
- Amazon wishlist
A note about Trello: I’m feeling really productive with my reading and my “To Read” list this year using Trello. I use Trello for other things, including tracking my 50 Before 50 list, but I am finding new book lover’s peace this year with Trello boards set up to help me keep track of books I want to read, Kindle books I snag on a deal, books I hear about in groups or on other podcasts, and then the books I actually am reading or listening to. If you haven’t tried Trello, you should! (It’s free!)
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