Beautiful, dotted mandalas are all over the Internet.
I wanted to paint some for myself but could not figure out how the simple, yet intricate design was accomplished.
Then, I came across a fantastic dotted mandala tutorial and look what I painted!
Here are my tips and thoughts about painting these beautiful stones.
Paints
I used both acrylic and acrylic craft paints. Acrylic paints will need to be thinned with water more so than the craft paints. Consistency of the paint is very important in order to obtain a nice effect.
Colors
I love color and these stones can be painted with any combination. For inspiration, I have a Pinterest board devoted just to color palettes:
Brushes
The tutorial recommended a certain type and size of brush for painting dotted mandalas. I had 4 suitable brushes on hand. I found the small brushes from a recently purchased nail art set worked best for me. (The nail art brushes are the 2 with white handles in the picture below.)
Stones
I used 3 types of stones for my dotted mandalas because I wanted to see how the painting technique would work on each one:
- Round and pitted (bottom left)
- Flat, smooth and an irregular shape (right)
- Round and smooth (top left)
The Tutorial
I recommend reading the detailed steps from the tutorial a few times before starting.
Practice
I practiced the brush dotting technique on paper first to get the hang of it before painting my first stone.
Painting the Stones
Stone 1 - Round and pitted
You can paint a dotted mandala on a pitted stone. I think my first attempt is OK but the dots appear to be flat.
One stone "dot" painted and two more to go.
Stone 2 - Flat, smooth and an irregular shape
It was definitely easier to paint on the flat, smooth rock and my dots have a little more dimension this time.
Stones 1 and 2 side by side
Stone 3 - Round and smooth
My third stone is nice but I definitely need more practice.
What I Learned
- It's not as easy as it looks.
- Go slowly and don't rush.
- Practice and practice and practice.
Helpful Links
- Dotted Mandala Stones Tutorial
- Green & Blue Dotted Mandala Stone Tutorial
- Nail Art Brushes - A Great Set of Tools for Painting Details on Rocks
- Rock Painting Color Palettes on Pinterest
© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks
