Painting Rock & Stone Animals, Nativity Sets & More: before and after

Showing posts with label before and after. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Before & After Painted Rocks: Suns

In the 1970's, I made this sun wall hanging using yarn and burlap. After I left home, my sister saved Mr. Sun from the trash and now proudly displays him in her home and collects sun art. To thank her for reuniting me with a blast from the past, I offered to paint a sun rock for her collection.

Reunited with my wall hanging after 40 years

I used 4 different stones so I could paint 4 different sun designs.

Suns and Moons painted on rocks by Cindy Thomas

I started with the smallest stone and simplest design first - a stylized sun on one side and moon on the other.

Stylized sun and moon painted rock

Both my sister and I live in the Southwest so hot chili peppers were the inspiration for this sun's design.

Painted Rock with Chili Pepper Sun Face by Cindy Thomas

Red Hot Mama Painted Sun Rock

A Talvera Mexican ceramic tile was the inspiration for this painted rock sun.

Moon and Sun Faces painted on a stone by Cindy Thomas

Talavera Inspired Painted Sun Rock

Rocks don't have to be round for a sun & moon design. My sister liked this one the best and it's now a part of her collection.

Moon and Sun Faces painted on a rock by Cindy Thomas

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Before and After Painted Rocks: Christmas Holiday

Now is the time to put Christmas decorations away until next year.

Flip a triangular or heart-shaped stone upside down and it's the perfect shape for Santa's hat and beard.

A kidney-shaped stone worked well for painting Father Christmas.

Rectangular, flat stones were used for each of these Nutcrackers.

A triangular-shaped stone was perfect for a kitty in a Santa hat...

...and a puppy in a Santa hat too.

A round piece of slate and a small, oval stone were glued together to create a melting snowman.

Learn How to Make a Melting Snowman with Painted Rocks

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Thursday, June 19, 2014

Wild Animals Painted on Rocks: Before & After

A smooth, 3-inch stone was primed with white acrylic and transformed into a cute panda painted rock.

See more photos of this panda

This rock had been sitting around (unpainted) for quite a while. I didn't see the shape of the elephant until I picked it up and turned it over. The rock's striations and color were used as part of the elephant by shading/painting just his head and legs.

This is another rock which was sitting around and I kept seeing a duck until I painted my first elephant (above). To add a little pizazz to this rock elephant, I painted a paisley design for a headdress and blanket.

See more photos of this elephant

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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Before & After Painted Rocks and Stones: Machines

Cold, hard machines warm your heart and bring a smile to your face when they're painted on rocks and stones.

The curved shape of this stone reminded me of an IBM Selectric typewriter I used years ago. This small stone had an angled, flat front which was a perfect surface for painting typewriter keys. I painted a manual typewriter because the features seemed more charming and recognizable than the Selectric's.

The shape of this angular rock said "adding machine" even before it was painted. The numerical display panel features the year I painted this office machine.

This large, rounded stone was perfect for a car. Can you see the tire on the front, lower left of the unpainted stone?

As you can see, more than critters and flowers can be painted on rocks and stones.

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Friday, March 28, 2014

Before & After Painted Rocks and Stones: Furry Pets

Both smooth and pitted rocks come alive when painted as furry pets.

Two, smooth elongated rocks were the perfect shape for painting a pair of ferrets.

See these ferrets and more painted rock pets on Facebook

The shape of this large, smooth rock allowed me to nicely place a dog and two puppies.

Puppy Love

I used pitted rocks for this cat and kitten. Notice how the painted fur strokes camouflage the pits.


Sleeping Cats

For this ginger kitty, I used an unusually-shaped rock and attached two smaller pebbles for the paws.

Ginger Tabby Hand-Painted Rock

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Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Painted Rocks: Garden Critters Before & After

I was inspired by a true story to paint a mouse hitching a ride on the back of a frog. Note how each stone's shape and size were transformed into the frog and mouse. Read more about the frog and mouse painted rocks.

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Learn how I used "black glue" to paint a butterfly with a stained glass effect on this rock.

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I like to use the rock's natural shape and characteristics whenever possible as illustrated in this ladybug before and after photo.

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More before and after painted rocks

Friday, February 7, 2014

Before & After Painted Rocks & Stones: The Beatles

On February 9, 1964 The Beatles made their first live television appearance in America on the Ed Sullivan Show.

To get in the spirit of this 50th anniversary, I painted several Beatle-themed rocks.