And water them down to create a wash. Then let your paint drip all over the tombstone. Into all the little nooks. And crannies. Give it loads of layers. Make the cracks. And letters darker.

Most gravestones made over the last few centuries are made of a few types of rock: marble, slate, and granite are the big three. Sometimes you run into darker stones made of gabbro, maybe a few sandstone markers, but especially in more recent monuments, marble and granite (and other plutonic rocks) rule the roost.

To make headstones, blocks are cut out from the selected stone to be shaped and cut into individual headstones. Cutting can be done with pneumatic drills, but water jet cutting is an increasingly popular option because it is highly efficient, effective and precise.

In most cases, it has the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on it, along with a personal message, or prayer, but may contain pieces of funerary art, especially details in stone relief. In many parts of Europe, insetting a photograph of the deceased in a frame is very common.

General Headstone Sayings

• If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.
• In memories we find comfort, in love we find peace.
• Gone from our sight but not from our hearts.
• To live in the hearts of those we leave behind is never to die.
• Too well loved to ever be forgotten.

As grave markers, tombstones offer a focus for mourning and commemoration. Typically made of stone and usually engraved with the deceased's name, date of birth and death, they also often carry inscribed tributes. They've been around a long time, across a wide variety of cultures.

So, to sum up, historically, a “tombstone” was the stone placed on top of a stone coffin. A “gravestone” was a stone slab covering a grave. “Headstones” were generally markers denoting a grave. Today, though, all of these terms indicate a marker placed at the head of a grave.

To commemorate the deceased Headstones humanize the dead with important details such as their name, title, age, key dates, and epitaph etched on them. This helps those passing by recall that it's a person lying beneath these stones no matter how much they get used to seeing the monument.

Some of the most common symbols included on gravestones through the ages have been religious and secular symbols. Many of them pertain to humanity's attitude toward death and the afterlife, though they can also pertain to fraternal organizations or even subjects the individual was interested in throughout their life.

Objects generally have a number of “facts” associated with them, often called biographical information, or tombstone data. This information is provided by the museum that holds these objects or by the scholarly works that publish them.

Most gravestones made over the last few centuries are made of a few types of rock: marble, slate, and granite are the big three. Sometimes you run into darker stones made of gabbro, maybe a few sandstone markers, but especially in more recent monuments, marble and granite (and other plutonic rocks) rule the roost.

Along with a tombstone is a tradition known as “Unveiling”. It is a celebratory event that reveals the headstone and is a way to honour the individual that has passed away. In the olden days it was used as a marker to easily identify your loved ones resting place.

To commemorate the deceased Headstones humanize the dead with important details such as their name, title, age, key dates, and epitaph etched on them. This helps those passing by recall that it's a person lying beneath these stones no matter how much they get used to seeing the monument.

A tombstone is a written advertisement that gives investors basic details about an upcoming public offering. A public offering is when a company offers to sell equity shares in the company in order to raise money.

Nothing can ever take away a love the heart holds dear. Those who touch our lives, stay in our hearts forever. Greatly loved, deeply missed. Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure.

In 1877, silver prospector Ed Schieffelin set out from Camp Huachuca, an Army post in southeastern Arizona, heading for the Dragoon Mountains. The soldiers warned him he'd find nothing there but his own tombstone. When Schieffelin struck silver, he named his mine Tombstone.