How to Tackle a Rock Painting Challenge

Have you ever agreed to paint a rock then asked yourself, "How am I going to paint THAT?!"

A request for Noah's Ark was my rock painting challenge because:

• It was a complex design
• I had not painted it on a rock in the past.

I learned (and now apply) these lessons to painted rock designs which seem more ambitious than my skill allows.

Lesson 1: Don't rush to paint. Keep the project in the back of your mind and ideas will start coming to you.

Instead of rushing to paint the Noah's Ark, I spent time:

• Thinking about and finding suitable rocks for the project
• Looking at pictures of animals and Noah's Ark
• Gathering reference materials.

Before I could envision how to paint Noah's Ark, I needed a rock to paint on. I was fortunate to find 3 rocks of a suitable shape in varying sizes - small, medium, and large.

Lesson 2: Paint a practice rock. Test the design and try techniques on one or more practice rocks before tackling the "keeper."

I painted Noah's Ark on the smallest rock first. From this practice rock, I learned:

• The paint color for the wood portion was too dark and did not feature enough interest
• The wood-painted portion could have been lower to allow more room at the top for the animals
• Something should be featured in the windows of the ark
• It was best to paint the largest animal(s) first then select the remaining animals based on the space available.

Lesson 3: Test Designs and Colors. Try out colors and designs on paper before committing to the rock. Record the steps and paint colors you used.

Before continuing to paint on the medium-sized rock, I sketched a simple ark on paper and played with various paint color combinations for the wood portion of the ark. Noting the colors I used helped me recreate it on the rock.

The 2nd Noah's Ark I painted (medium-size rock) incorporated what I learned from painting the practice rock:

• The painted wood portion was a lighter color and more interesting
• More room was allowed at the top portion of the rock for the animals
• The windows of the ark and the roof now featured animals
• The animal selection and placement process was easier.

The Noah's Ark challenge wasn't daunting by the time I painted the 3rd and largest rock (which would be gifted to my friend).

Lesson 4: Use reference materials for inspiration and guidance. Don't feel you have to paint from memory.

I referred to photos and these how-to guides to paint the animals:

• Artistry Set on Stone by Suzi Chua 
• Painting Zoo Animals on Rocks by Lin Wellford
• Painting More Animals on Rocks by Lin Wellford
• Noah's Touch by Linda Jordan

Note: When you click on certain links in this post, I may receive a commission for the purchase of products. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you accept a challenge and push yourself to paint a complex design which you've never done before, the sense of accomplishment makes your spirit soar.

Have you been asked to paint a complex or challenging design on a rock? 

Try these tips.

Please leave a comment about your experience painting complex, challenging designs on rocks.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Sweet, Simple Gifts - No-Fat Rock Candies

Painted rock candies are a sweet gift to have on hand around the holidays and very easy to paint.

Quick How-To Lesson for Painting Chocolate Candy Rocks

• Small, round stones make the best rock candies.
• Paint one (or both) sides of each stone with a milk, dark, or white chocolate acrylic paint color. For the majority of these stones I used burnt umber acrylic paint. The light one is painted with buttermilk acrylic and for the shiny stone on the lower right I used brown fabric paint. 
• If you have stones that are naturally chocolate-colored, you don't need to paint them. FYI: The stone on the upper right is unpainted.

Paint the stones with chocolate-colored acrylics

• You can start decorating the stones now or you can add a little shading around the sides of each stone by mixing the brown paint with a little black (or brown with the buttermilk color).
• An internet search for chocolate candy images will give you ideas for how to decorate your candies
• I made this tool for applying the little dots on the stones

DIY Dotting Tool

• Now use your imagination - dots, swirls, lines, squiggles, a combination of designs - anything goes.
• 3-D Fabric paint is what gives the designs dimension and realism. I used white, butterscotch and brown fabric paint
• You may want to practice using the 3-D fabric paint before applying it to the stones.

Add designs to the chocolate-colored stones

The painted rock candies will look even more realistic if you display them in a festive holiday dish...

...or a bowl.

 

A few more gift-giving ideas: 

• Adorn wrapped packages with a candy or two
• Gift a few individual candies
• Place a few rock candies in a Christmas stocking
• Attach a ribbon to make a Christmas ornament
• Create a unique and/or personalized gift by packaging the candies in a dish, bowl, mug, etc.
• Painted rock candies make great gifts for Valentine's Day too.

Please, please, please remember to keep these candies away from young children. They can be very tempting and dangerous if ANYONE attempts to eat them.



Note: This idea was adapted from and inspired by Suzi Chua.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

How to Paint Unique, Outdoor Nativity Sets on Garden Pavestones

An outdoor nativity set painted on garden pavers is a great gift idea but there's a problem - packing and shipping to out-of-town recipients is difficult and pricey.

Outdoor nativity set painted on garden pavers, brick and rock

The solution: I created a downloadable guide (in PDF format) explaining and illustrating how to paint these outdoor nativity scene figures and brick manger.

How to Paint Nativities on Pavestones PDF Guide

The following sample page from the tutorial shows the type of garden edgestones and paver brick I used along with the rock shape & size which works best for Baby Jesus.

Sample page from the PDF how-to guide

Included in my 40-page tutorial:

• a materials and supplies list
• paint and brush tips
• rock painting tips and helps
• easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions with photos
• ideas for more nativity sets using garden pavestones

Get your copy of 

"How to Paint a Nativity Set on Pavestones" 

Christmas will be here soon!

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Four Free Rock Painting Projects

These four, free rock painting projects (provided by two rock painters and a craft store) will help you create cute painted rocks of your own.


Thanks to Lee Wismer for sharing these two rock painting lessons:

Strawberries

Koi Pond on Flagstone

Thank you, JoAnn Fabrics, for sharing this cute, PDF rock painting tutorial:

Tic Tac Toe with Ladybugs

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.