WHAT'S NEW — painted rocks

WHY NOT USE A LITTLE RED? 9

Christine Onward talking about the symbolism of red and its use in creating art on rocks 

Red appears to be the colour that artists have been using the most in their art works. It is suggested that the value of a piece of art will increase dramatically just by using red in its composition. Recent studies also suggest that at least 77% of the art works in history have used predominantly the red colour.

But why is red so highly appraised in the world of art? And how is this preference for red reflected in the art rock painting?

Here are a few of the most significant explanations I found when it comes to using red in rock painting. To exemplify I used a number of rocks by the artists of RockStreet Collective, recently  posted in the group.

Photo collage by artist | Lysa Mignot |  of RockStreet Collective (artists tagged in group cover photo)

Probably the most common suggestion for the use of red in art is love. Being such an intense, “hot” color, artists have used red to convey emotions such as passion, happiness, or intense love.

But how do you represent love on a painted rock?

You may use the symbol of love heart

Red painted rocks with love hears by | Karin Getaz | Kathy McLoughlin | Christine Onward 

Flowers painted on rocks in red may also elicit feelings of love: 

Rocks by | Angel Martinez Garcia | Lysa Mignot | Pamela Campbell |

Red is believed to make you happy

Happy painted rocks by | Gaby Avila | Dawn Harper  | Kim Koch |

Red is such a powerful eye-catching colour that can make us quickly attracted to what we see. This is probably why, for outstanding designs, artists are prone to using red more than any other colours of the spectrum.

Rocks interior decorations by | Angel Martinez Garcia | Lysa Mignot | Christine Onward |

Red is used to reflect beauty in nature , as seen in the feathers of these fascinating birds:

Red and birds, painted rocks by | Tanya Nikolaevskaya | Christine Onward | 陳 泳澖 |

Red is also suggested to enhance strength, confidence and optimism. Here are some outstanding decorations using different hues of red:

Painted rocks by | Henriett Jäckl | Pauline Parker | Karin Getaz |

And some more red? How about romantic landscapes with a red sky at dawn?

Painted rock by | Christine Onward |

I will conclude here, although the story could continue with no end. Red painted rocks can make for a wonderful piece of decoration. Being a powerful colour which triggers intense emotions such as love, passion, happiness, the colour that attracts attention and makes every piece of art more desirable. There is no reason why you shouldn't try it for yourself.

***If you think your red work of art stands out from the crowd, feel free to post your rock in RockStreet Collective.  We celebrate RED week on our Instagram account starting from 4^th to 10^th of June.  There will be two artist winners every day!! Winning rocks will be featured on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and website. Looking forward to meeting you too.

More RED rocks for sale Here.

 Painted rock by | Sara Stich |

When Painting on Rocks Becomes Part of Your Soul - Interview with Ineke Burgman, Remarkable Artist of The Netherlands 123

Discover the Fascinating Story of artist Karin Getaz - the Magic of Her Painted Rocks and Passion for Colours 148

A Visit to Italy - The Amazing Marilena Sostero Talking about Her Passion for Creating Art on Rocks 29

A beautiful day in Ancona, Italy. Photo by artist Marilena Sostero

Greetings to everyone from Italy!

My name is Marilena Sostero and I live in a beautiful city by the sea, called Ancona.

For many years I have passionately painted using oil techniques. I also loved making portraits in crayons and charcoal. Later I approached the art of rock painting, with much love and fun.

The most exciting thing about rock painting is how you can change a stone or a little pebble found by chance, into a small artwork that so many people love!

 I love to find rocks in the shape of a cottage or a mushroom, which nobody appreciates ,  and turn them into beautiful pieces of art.

Mixed media by Marilena Sostero | I sassi di Marilena |  Instagram | for sale Here

My great passion is to paint stones of every form, but my true love is to reproduce the ancient houses with the flowers lurking on the walls. I love to create these houses without painting the walls with colours, but using only shadows to create the depth. Then I add the flowers and trunks that climb around the windows with synthetic paste. I do not draw almost anything in pencil, but I rely on the brush using black colour to letting my imagination carry me on.

Here is one of the works I never wanted to sell, because it embodies the best I want to achieve.

Artwork painted rock by Marilena Sostero | I sassi di Marilena |  Instagram |

If I were to give a piece of advice to someone who has just started painting I would say:
Always observe with great attention all the beautiful things that are around us … and never miss the joy of creating, like any baby would do.

Se dovessi dare un consiglio a qualcuno che ha appena iniziato a dipingere, direi: Osservare sempre con grande attenzione tutte le cose belle che vediamo intorno a noi… e non perdere mai la gioia di creare come farebbe un bambino.

Painted rocks by Marilena Sostero | I sassi di Marilena |  Instagram | 

I would like to thank you all for your attention and wish you best of luck with your painting in the future.

My best regards and appreciation, Hugo and Marilena

Vorrei ringraziare tutti voi per la vostra attenzione e augurarvi buona fortuna con la vostra pittura in futuro.

I miei migliori saluti e apprezzamenti, Hugo e Marilena

The Amazing Painted Rocks of Brazil - This Week's Artist, Débora Penachione 11

RockStreet Collective's PAINTED ROCKS – the Halloween video 19

How do you make a group of artists, all different in age, styles, culture, personalities and interests feel like home? How do you make the art on rocks not only the common language for everyone, but also a source of fun, relaxation, joy, interest and so on… Here is an idea I came up with recently.

Collage of artworks by: Carrie Hart Sharp | Johns Found Art  | Berna Figueredo | Maria Michela Troccolo - Oceanomare Stone painting, sassi dipinti | Lindsey Bridges Art  | April Anderson | Ernestina Gallina - Pietrevive 

I woke up on Sunday morning thinking I need to make a Halloween gift for my RockStreet Collective hub of friends. I searched through my rocks, thinking that a simple post with a spooky painted stone and nice Halloween wishes will suffice. Then I looked around, and noticed everyone was also posting spooky rocks. Just in the most incredible styles, and colours, and moods reflected in so many approaches from so many countries!

Collage of artworks by: Petra Groth | Nadejda Vladeva | Mike Fant - Mike's Art Glass  | Rachel's Rocks | Ruth Yong | Jey Kam  | Pamela Campbell | Gaby Avila 

So I thought I could just make a funny video with painted rocks, new or old, from our RockStreet Collective group of painters. At 9 in the morning I began downloading Halloween photos of painted rocks. By lunch time I had about 90 photos saved on my computer, each of them with the most interesting, colourful, scary, original etc. designs.

Collage of artworks by:  Eiji Shimamura | Erika Warren | Chaz Kohut | The Mad Lou Rocks | Sandra Suazo | Danijela Milosevic  | Sussi Louise Smith | Shyla Jannusch | Nicky Stones

As you might already know, making a video is not just a simple thing of putting pictures all together randomly just to see what comes up in the end. Most of the photos I had downloaded needed editing. On each photo I had to type its author’s name as well. I had to explain the ownership of each creation for everyone. It was meant to be equally fair for everyone :) . Sooo, about 90 photos to edit until dinner time!

Collage of artworks by: Christine Onward | David Eric Leftwich | Lorraine Redlich | Liz Campanile Gibson | Marilena Sostero | Lyn Phillips | Annegret Ehrmann | Monica Maticiuc

At the end of the day I had 81 photos of 43 artists from around the world edited and ready to go into the RockStreet Collective Halloween celebratory video. I apologise to those artists of our Collective who didn’t make it to the video. If I missed any of your photos, it was not done on purpose.  

 And here is our video:

Halloween painted rocks by RockStreet Collective

I would like to thank all the artists whose works of art on rocks made up to such a wonderful, engaging little Halloween video. Since then I have received tens of thanks, wonderful words of gratitude, wonderful stories of life about how much this little attention from my side means to them… I also had some complaints that the video doesn’t play in some people’s countries. I think it might have been the song I used, “Abracadabra” by the Steve Miller Band, your country’s rights on the song, the device you are using, or just the misbehaving YouTube.

Collage of artworks by: Mónika Mészáros Kavicsfestés | Melinda's rock paintings | Spray PaintArt Veljo | Mariella Trigari | Michelle Sullivan Maddix  | Steenzoekertje Zoeken | Tami Hegwood

I will end my little Halloween video story here by thanking you all for bringing colour and joy in our lives every day. Painting on rocks does change lives – always for the better. And you make this happen.

With love,

Christine Onward of RockStreet Collective

Featured image by : Cynthia Snider