Had an interesting conversation with a visitor today.
Actually, it was one of my wife's clients who was at the house for a counseling session, and he happened to notice some of my painted stones.
He seemed sort of interested, but not entirely.
Did these back in 2013; white and gold on black stones
The Clarity of Black-and-White
After he left my wife told me that they had actually talked about the patterns in my stones a little bit, and the main reason why he wasn't openly enthusiastic was simply that he was colorblind and couldn't really appreciate the intricacy of the patterns.
Towards the end of their conversation, he asked her if I ever did any designs that were just in black and white.
Another 2013 design
Interestingly enough, during the very earliest days of Alchemy Stones I painted quite a few designs that were black and white. I sort of did away with continuing to paint them because when we went to shows it soon became clear that the multi-colored designs were much more popular than the black and white designs.
As a bit of additional background, the Mandala patterns I paint on my stones actually have their roots in the doodles from my teenage years where I was basically using a black Rapidograph pen on white paper... so the idea of black and white is absolutely not new to me.
Another early design, this one following more of a "Viking/Tribal" style, rather than a mandala
Another part of the "challenge" of black-and-white designs is that they really only "work" on gray stones... which are very hard to find with suitably smooth surfaces for painting.
Anyway, I thought it was an interesting observation and it made me want to sit down and revive the idea of black and white designs... except this time with the benefit of an additional 10 to 12 years of having developed the intricacy and variations in the patterns themselves.
A smaller, simpler design, with a "pinwheel" theme
I'm not sure whether my wife'd client will actually end up buying a stone if I make some black and white designs, but it will be an interesting test to take them to some of the festivals and arts and crafts shows we hope to attend this summer!
Interesting how sometimes the old becomes new again after you've not paid attention to it for a few years!
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If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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2022.03.26 AS-TXT-093/059