A Rock Painter's Brain - The Creative Process

Many times an inspiration dictates my next rock painting project. In this case A Crafter's Brain did the trick.

Source: Total Class Creative

Step 1: Once inspiration hits, I start looking for the shape of rock I need. In this case, I had the perfect stone which eerily resembled a skull.

Step 2: I primed the rock with white acrylic paint and allowed it to sit for a while. As I walked past the primed stone, I started to visualize how I wanted to paint it.

Step 3: I decided where facial features would best fit on the rock to allow a large, brain section and then painted only the face portion. (Because I'm not a portraitist, I found many how-to guides for drawing/painting faces on Pinterest.)

Step 4: For a little bling, I used E6000 craft glue to attach earrings onto the stone. (These were small, flower-shaped beads I had from an earlier project.)

Step 5: I spent a few days putting thoughts on paper to gauge the number and size of each brain section I planned to paint.

(For other rock painting projects, I've used a piece of paper or computer paint program to sketch my designs and test paint colors prior to committing it to the rock.)


Step 6: I started painting the sections - sized according to what I recorded on paper earlier.

Step 7: Sharpie fine-point markers were used to fill in each painted section with words. (Note: I generally don't use Sharpies because they can bleed and change color when sealed. But in this case, it would have been very difficult to use paint and brush to write my words.)

Step 8: I continued filling in all the sections with my rock-painting thoughts.

This video shows each angle of the completed "Rock Painter's Brain."

Now I have my 2015 rock painting goals set in stone.

Click here to see how I updated my brain for 2017.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks