Rock Painting Ideas: Slimy Critters Painted on Rocks

To get my creative juices flowing, I have a new Pinterest inspiration board. It features ideas and patterns for painting fish, frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards, snails and other slimy critters on rocks, stones and pavers.

 
Ideas: Slimy Painted Rocks

Not only can you transform a rock into a critter but you can also paint a fish pond on a piece of slate.

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Visit my Pinterest Rock Painting Ideas and Helps board for more tips, tricks, ideas, and patterns to use for painting rocks, stones and pebbles.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

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

• Various
• The Beatles
• Furry Pets 
• Machines 
• Wild Animals  
• Things with Wings
• Christmas Holiday 

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Rock Painting Inspiration from a True Story

Rock painting ideas come from unexpected places.

I was inspired to paint a mouse hitching a ride on the back of a frog after reading this true story about a flood in India.

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First, I searched through my unpainted rocks to see if I had any shapes and sizes suitable for this project.

Two, smooth stones were the right size and shape with a flat surface suitable for gluing the painted rocks together...

...so, I primed the stones with white, acrylic paint.

The stones have been primed

Each stone was painted separately using a simple design.

Painting has begun on each stone

Once the paint was dry, I attached the painted stones to each other using E6000 glue.

The painted stones have been glued to each other

My final step was sealing the rocks with Mod Podge Outdoor followed by Delta Ceramcoat Exterior/Interior polyurethane varnish.

To display the frog and mouse similar to the photo in the news story, I filled a container with small pebbles and shallow water.

We get by with a little help from our friends

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks 

3 Free Rock Painting Lessons - Bees, Ladybugs, and Frogs

Today's 3 FREE lessons are courtesy of Patty Donathan.

All of Patty's free PDF rock painting tutorials include:

• A list of the supplies you'll need
• How to select the rocks
• Detailed illustrations and instructions for painting both simple and detailed bee, ladybug, and frog rocks

How to Paint a Bee

I painted this rock bee using Patty Donathan's free how-to guide

Every artist has their own style and you'll see a slight difference between my painted rock and those in Patty's lesson. I also added something extra to my painted rock bee - a toothpick painted gold became the bee's stinger.



How to Paint a Ladybug

This simple, ladybug how-to guide is perfect for those round rocks in your yard and easy enough for children to do. At the time I painted the ladybug, I did not think to take a photograph of my finished product.


How to Paint a Tic Tac Toe Frog & Koi Pond Game

This tic tac toe painted rock project is more involved, however, it's a very clever idea. Instead of playing tic tac toe with X’s and O’s on paper, two sets of frogs are painted on rocks - one set of frogs with orange spots and the other set with yellow spots. Patty also includes instructions for painting the pond tic tac toe board. One day I hope to complete this tutorial for myself. 

Thank you, Patty Donathan for generously sharing your free rock painting instructions and giving us rock painting ideas and inspiration.

The free projects mentioned in this post along with their links were viewable on the date of this post. I cannot guarantee how long the projects will remain free and available online. 


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks