When processing natural stones, small fragments are formed, called stone chips. They are different in size and diverse in shades and types. This seemingly unnecessary material still found its application. As an option, these are pictures of stone chips. They are unique, as they have volume, relief and a peculiar, special velvetiness. The style of the paintings and the technology for their implementation will be discussed in the article.
Uniqueness of paintings
Nowadays, paintings of natural stones and stone chips have gained a new direction in art and incredible popularity. They are a rare kind of fine art. Neither humidity, nor temperature, nor time have power over these works. And the most important advantage of the stone crumb painting is that it is the only one in its execution, as this is a manual, creative work of a master, requiring great skill and refined artistic taste. Naturally, the price of such a picture is not cheap, and depends on which stone chips were used to create it.
Bulk paintings
The first appeared paintings from minerals: the Ural gems. Stone masters advanced in this craft only after they discovered the pantries of the Ural Mountains. Local craftsmen created all kinds of gizmos from stone. It was then that they drew attention to the crumb stone obtained in the processing of stones.
Stone chips are made in different ways, different from mineral products. One of them is the method of pouring stone chips onto the glue base of the place prepared in the picture. Such images are called bulk.
There is also a stone engraving technique. To master the technique of making paintings you need to start with simple materials such as sand, coal, marble, slate and granite. They can be crushed and sieved, getting various fractions: from dust to large stones. As part of the painting, made of stone chips, you can find stones such as aquamarine, turquoise, jade.
Stone palette
Before you start working with stone chips, you need to sort the stones by color and grind. Spread the crushed fractions in jars. Usually they are typed up to a dozen of one color. The pieces of stone chips of different sizes allow you to set certain color accents when creating a picture.
Stone watercolor is created slowly, starting with small crumbs laid on glue, the next layer is a larger fraction, similar to grains of salt. Thus, you can get the effect of perspective. Next, a larger fraction is laid out in the picture. The paintings are somewhat similar to a stone mosaic, where each pebble has its own place.
Stone crumb painting
Oval images on a tree cut have a special charm. Their plots are diverse. These are natural landscapes, animals and birds, mountains and portraits. From stone chips, effects such as clouds, fog, and water surface are perfectly obtained. The sparkling and natural shades of stone crumb create a velvety picture plot and look richer than painted pictures.
So, in spring landscapes, stone crumb of turquoise, aquamarine, malachite is used. Winter plots are beautiful from slate grains. The work, made of amber crumbs of petrified resin, looks amazing. At exhibitions, you can see galleries of paintings made by pouring on an adhesive basis. They “play” with shades when changing the angle of illumination.
Execution technology
For those who want to try to create a picture of stone chips with their own hands, you need to have: a composite background in the form of thick cardboard, sawed wood or a sheet of chipboard and stone chips of different fractions. You can glue it on PVA glue, transparent glassy building silicone or silicone sealant, and you can also use a glue gun. In addition to all of the above, in order to create pictures of stone chips, you need to have patience, perseverance and artistic taste. You need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to spend more than one month on the picture.
At master classes on creating landscapes from stone chips, experts recommend starting with dark tones, moving to lighter ones. This technique allows you not to stain previously glued light crumbs. On the prepared background, a composition is drawn with a simple pencil. A thin layer of glue is applied to the fragment of the picture and colored stone chips are poured. Excess grains are shaken off in a container for further use. Children also learn the art of painting, but they learn from the colored sand.
Picture on a cut of a tree
More difficult will be the work of creating a picture of stone chips on a cut of a tree edged with bark. Usually, a blank of up to 2 cm thick is taken for the painting. The wood is carefully sanded with fine sandpaper. A drawing is applied to a smooth surface and the wood is impregnated with a solution of PVA glue. When the adhesive base has dried, the work begins with inlaid stone chips. It must be prepared in advance by purchasing a kit in a specialized store.
Fine crumb stone is poured into those places where the composition requires it. If you need to create volume, the next layer is poured on top. Thanks to the original material, it is possible to realize in the picture that which cannot be conveyed with the help of paints, namely, the volume of the picture. In working on a painting, you need to work with miniature tools designed for delicate work.
Interesting ideas
The artist Alena Gordon, who chose this work as the main direction of her activity, creates the amazingly beautiful paintings from stone chips from the Urals. Her canvas is a marble plate, and the paints are Ural gems turned into small stone crumb. The technology of her paintings is unique and has no world analogues.
The palette of stone chips is striking: golden amber, red cinnabar, sky lapis lazuli, emerald malachite. In his work, the author uses dental tools to apply crushed crumbs to the "canvas". She created unique icons with images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the Virgin Mary, St. George the Victorious. Alain Gordon creates her own painting or icon for several months. The volume and depth of the pattern are provided by stones of various sizes.
Gifts for friends
Many believe that stones have healing properties. That is why they buy stone products for the interior of a house or apartment, including paintings made of stone chips on a tree cut or in a frame.
After passing a master class on the creation of such works, you can purchase a set containing all the necessary materials for work, and make a picture for the interior of your room. In the kit there is a scheme of the picture, instructions for work, the basis on which the work will be performed and the material - stone chips. In such sets, a crumb of inexpensive stones is usually used, and often artificial, well imitating real crumb. Work options are presented below in the video.
By learning to create miniature paintings from stone chips, you can make a gift for your friends and relatives. It will be original and unique, if only because it is made in a single copy. By doing it, you, of course, invest a piece of your soul, and, importantly, surprise relatives and friends with the extraordinary work that you have done.