Monday, August 27, 2012

DIY Tutorial: Drawing on Stones

Memories of Summer

I was spent several days on Shelter Island in June and collected a bag full of smooth white stones from the seashore.  I thought they would make nice mini-canvases for some simple drawings or doodles.  Below are the steps for making the simplest of paperweights and a little record of the events of the summer.

Shelter Island
Clean your stone so that it is free of dirt or seaweed.  Draw your design in pencil.


  I will use pictures for reference, but this is just a simple starfish.



FW Inks are permanent and opaque.  You can use either a very fine brush or a pen for your drawing.  Keep a cup of water handy for rinsing out your brush or pen before the ink starts to clog.  Hold the stone in your non-drawing hand and turn it so the surface you’re working on faces you.  Steady your drawing hand by keeping part of your palm or wrist on the table or tucked against your side.  Clean off excess dried ink on your brush or pen with a tissue.



FW Ink dries quickly.  If you make a mistake you will have to sand it off!  When your drawing is finished and the ink is dry, use a kneaded rubber eraser to remove the graphite pencil lines that are left. 


Finished!

I found these stones useful for keeping my papers in place when the ceiling fan was on!

Jody Lee

[Etsy+avatar.jpg]

11 comments:

Debi said...

Wonderful!!! I love this Jody. Thank you for sharing!

virginia piazza said...

Hi Jody,

I love Shelter Island too, and we try to visit every year.

These stones are lovely!

It was great to meet you in Garrison- it was nice of you to stop by and introduce yourself.

Unknown said...

I love this! Your drawings are so cute too!!!

Unknown said...

Beautiful work Jody, especially that fox, too cute!!

HuzzahHandmade said...

Jody, this is great. The clear photos really make the tutorial shine.

Lisa Walbridge (Merry Alchemy) said...

Great tutorial, Jody. Thanks for sharing. That fox is super cute!

l&m studio said...

Lovely!

becky nielsen said...

these are terrific, Jodi! MAnd I love how all these different locations offer different kinds of stones!

DiGilio Designs said...

Great post, the stones are lovely!

Whitebay Boutique said...

Oh I love the little fox!!!

Jody said...

I was in transit and completely missed this going up on the blog. Thanks for the comments!

It's fun to go some place different and pick up little stone mementos! Earlier this year I went hiking on Bear Mountain and found a bunch of smooth, dark grey sandstones that would be perfect for white on black drawings.