Rock Art Handbook: Techniques and Projects for Painting, Coloring and Transforming Stones

I checked out this recently-published book: Rock Art Handbook: Techniques and Projects for Painting, Coloring and Transforming Stones by Samantha Sarles.

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.

This book is a great resource if you want to use a medium other than acrylic paint to decorate your rocks. There are over 30, step-by-step, how-to techniques using pens, paint, nail polish, glitter, fabric, paper, chalk and more.

The techniques and projects are easily explained and beautifully illustrated.

The topics covered are:

• Finding and Prepping Rocks
• Sealants
• Acrylic Paint
• Markers and Pens
• Drawing Mandala and Zentangle Designs
• Marbling
• Colored Pencils
• Decoupage
• Creating Unique Backgrounds
• Embellishments and Textures
• Rocks for Learning
• Rocks and Kids
• Possible Uses

These are rocks I decorated using just a few of the techniques and/or designs from Samantha Sarles' Rock Art Handbook.

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.

Sharpie Pens

Sharpies are notorious for blurring when sealed and I had several unused pens to experiment with. The technique: Draw various circles with Sharpies and then use alcohol and a Q-tip to intentionally blur the Sharpie pen lines.

Colored Pencils

The technique: Base coat a design with white acrylic paint prior to filling it in with the colored pencils. The book recommends Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, however, my Loew Cornell colored pencils seemed to work just fine. (Note: I used black acrylic paint to outline the flower.)

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Outlined and Filled-In Mandala Designs

This was my favorite project from the book. I used extra fine point Posca Paint Pens for both of these rocks. For details on the larger filled-in mandala design, I used a Sakura Pigma Micron pen.

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With Christmas approaching, Rock Art Handbook: Techniques and Projects for Painting, Coloring and Transforming Stones by Samantha Sarles would be a great gift for the rock painter in your life.

OR

The stones you decorate using the techniques in this book would be wonderful, personalized presents to give and receive.

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.


Supplies mentioned in this blog post:

• Rock Art Handbook by Samantha Sarles
• Loew Cornell Colored Pencils
• Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils
• Extra Fine Point Posca Paint Marker Pens
• Sakura Pigma Micron Pen

   
© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

There's More Than One Way to Paint a Cat Rock

I used how-to guides from 4 different artists to create these kitty cats painted rocks.

Lin Wellford's book, "Painting Pets on Rocks" was the inspiration for this Black Cat painted rock.

Design courtesy of Lin Wellford

I found Lin's instructions clear and easy to follow. Other cat designs included in Lin Wellford's "Painting Pets on Rocks" book are: Tabby Cat, White Cat, Siamese Cat.

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.

This Black and White Cat was painted using Ernestina Gallina's downloadable PDF tutorial - "How to Paint on Rock a Black and White Cat."

Design Courtesy of Ernestina Gallina

This Black and White Cat was more difficult to paint than Lin Wellford's version, however, by following Ernestina's detailed instructions, I was pleased with the result.

Suzi Chua's ebook "Let's Get Catty: Painting Realistic and Detailed Cats on Stone" inspired the Striped Orange Tabby and White Persian painted cats rocks.

 

Design Courtesy of Suzi Chua

Design Courtesy of Suzi Chua

I am always able to paint cute, whimsical designs using a Suzi Chua how-to guide. However, I find it necessary to study Suzi's included photos because her directions aren't as detailed as Lin Wellford's or Ernestina Gallina's and could be frustrating for beginners.


Flora Tan was a guest artist also featured in Suzi Chua's "Let's Get Catty" ebook who included instructions for painting this Sleepy Kitty.

Design Courtesy of Flora Tan

Of the five cats I painted using the how-to guides, I found the Sleepy Kitty to be the most challenging. The instructions were clear and detailed but all the fur strokes became frustrating for me.

The steps for painting a cat on a rock are basically the same in each how-to guide. I often refer to and adapt various steps/features from each guide to paint my own version of a cat rock.


How to Paint Cats tutorials mentioned in this post:

• "Painting Pets on Rocks" by Lin Wellford
• "How to Paint on Rock a Black and White Cat" downloadable PDF by Ernestina Gallina
• "Let's Get Catty: Painting Realistic and Detailed Cats on Stone" downloadable ebook by Suzi Chua

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.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

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

How to Paint Baby Jesus on a Rock

Useful Links

Rock Painting Tips for Beginners

Helpful Rock Painting Tools and Supplies

Christmas Holiday Painted Rocks Projects

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.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Is Gesso a Good Primer for Painted Rocks?

Yes, in my opinion gesso is an excellent primer for painted rocks.

Gesso (pronounced jes-oh) is used to prepare a canvas for painting. (If you would like to know more about gesso, this article "What is Gesso and How is it Used in Painting?" is very informative.) 

I've been hearing about gesso used to prime rocks (my canvas) and thought I'd give it a try instead of the usual white, acrylic paint.

For my experiment, I purchased two types of gesso from the Michaels.com website...

• Regular - Folk Art brand
• Super Heavy - Liquitex brand

...and selected a smooth stone for the regular gesso and a pitted stone for the super heavy gesso.

My process:

• Brush one coat of each type of gesso on a stone (regular gesso on the smooth stone, super heavy gesso on the pitted rock)
• Paint the same design on each stone using one coat of various brands of acrylic or acrylic craft paint
• Use an art pen for thin details
• Seal the stones

Gesso features and performance:

• Folk Art - regular gesso
• Consistency of toothpaste
• Applied with a brush easily and smoothly
• A little went a long way
• Covers well
• Can be mixed with acrylic paint for a colored base coat
• Soap and water clean up
• Quick drying

Regular gesso applied to a smooth stone

• Liquitex Super Heavy gesso
• Consistency of cake icing or spackling compound
• Somewhat messy
• Applied with a brush and required smoothing in different directions
• Can be tinted with acrylic paint
• Soap and water clean up
• 24 hours to dry
• Brighter white than the regular gesso

Super heavy gesso applied to a pitted rock

Paint colors and brands used:

• Craft Acrylic (craft acrylic is a thinner consistency than regular acrylic paint)
• Anita's Orange
• Anita's Christmas Green
• DecoArt Cherry Blossom Pink

• Acrylic
• Americana Snow (Titanium) White
• Apple Barrel Bimini Blue (turquoise)
• Apple Barrel Red
• Apple Barrel Lime Tree
• Apple Barrel Black
• Folk Art Sky Mist (light blue)

 
The acrylic and acrylic craft paint colors adhered very well with both types of gesso. The brush moved smoothly across each rock's surface.

Results of one coat of paint applied over each type of gesso

There were no problems using the art pen on the gessoed and painted stones. In fact, the pen drew especially well on the pitted stone primed with super heavy gesso.

Results of art pen used on gessoed and painted stones (Sehnaz Bac design with permission)

My final photo clearly illustrates the benefits of using white acrylic paint or gesso as a primer for a stone. The paint colors on all three primed stones are brighter than the unprimed stone. The difference is most apparent when you compare the orange hue on each painted rock.

Results of no primer vs. acrylic paint and gesso primers (Sehnaz Bac design with permission)

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Painting a Basket of Pansies on a Rock

YOU can paint a pretty basket of pansies similar to this with the guidance of Ernestina Gallina's free tutorial.
 




This is my interpretation of Ernestina's tutorial and the steps are explained below.

Step 1: Choose your rock.

A good shape for this project is round or oval. The rock I chose is oval and measures 3 inches x 5 inches.

Step 2: Paint the lower half of the rock with dark brown.

I chose a hue called "burnt umber" for the lower half of my stone. (I used both crafter's acrylic and acrylic paint for this project.)

Step 3: Paint evenly-spaced horizontal strips in a lighter brown.

I used a hue called "burnt sienna." Tip: Before I painted the strips, I sketched them with a white pencil so I'd have guidelines to follow.

Step 4: Paint evenly-spaced vertical strips in the light brown hue.

After sketching the vertical lines with my white pencil, I used the same "burnt sienna" hue to paint evenly-spaced, vertical strips. Tip: My vertical strips should have been painted closer together.

Step 5: Highlight A

I suggest you study Ernestina's tutorial before starting this step because it's a little tricky. I used a "terra cotta" hue and carefully placed alternating swatches of this color where my horizontal and vertical lines met. Tip: I practiced on paper before attempting to paint my rock.

Step 6: Highlight B

I used a "yellow ochre" hue and highlighted the horizontal and vertical terra cotta portions painted in Step 5.

Step 7: Highlight C

I mixed the yellow ochre hue with a little white acrylic paint and highlighted once again, trying to achieve an interlaced basket effect.

Step 8: Sketch the pansies.

I used my white pencil to sketch pansies on the upper portion of my rock. I placed them at different angles, made them different sizes, and placed some overlapping the basket.

Step 9: Paint pansy petals with white base coat.

When I base coated the pansies with white acrylic paint, I left the edges unpainted to set off the petals.

Step 10: Paint the empty space.

I first used a "leaf green" hue to paint my empty space but had to go back and repaint it later with "hunter green" which was a darker shade. Tip: Use a dark green hue for this step.

Step 11: Paint the flowers.

Instead of painting the pansies yellow as Ernestina explained in her tutorial, I referred to a photo with a different color combo. In general, pansies are painted lighter at the edges and darker in the center. Tip: I suggest you study Ernestina's tutorial to help you understand how to properly shade the pansy petals.

Step 12: Paint the leaves.

I used a "leaf green" hue to paint the leaves and mixed a little white with the green to outline and add veins to each leaf. (Note: I chose to omit the basket's handle on my basket of pansies.)

Step 13: Seal the stone with your preferred clear coat protection.

To seal my pansies in a basket painted rock, I brushed on a coat of Mod Podge, followed by a coat of Americana DuraClear Satin Varnish.

Helpful Links

• Tutorial: A Lovely Basket of Pansies by Ernestina Gallina
• How to Seal and Protect Painted Rocks

  
© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks