Rock Painting Technique: Pattern Tracing

No drawing skills? No problem. You can trace a pattern onto a rock and paint it.

Supplies

• Flat, somewhat smooth rock
• Pattern or photo
• Graphite transfer paper
• Pencil or stylus
• Paints

  
Steps

Find a rock with a smooth and/or flat surface. A rock with lots of pits or angles will be difficult to transfer a pattern onto.

Even though this rock has pits, the pattern transferred nicely because of it's flat surface.

Find a photo or pattern you'd like to paint on your rock. If the photo or pattern is larger or smaller than your rock, that's OK.

This pattern was taken from "Stained Glass in an Afternoon" by Vicki Payne

Measure the width and height of your rock. You'll need the dimensions to adjust your pattern so it fits nicely on your rock.

Copy OR scan your pattern so your original is not damaged. 

• If you copy your pattern on the printer, you'll need to play with reducing or enlarging the image so it will fit nicely on your stone
• If you scan the image, you can insert it into a drawing program and resize the image using the rock's measurements to find a good fit, then print the page

Place a sheet of graphite transfer paper on top of your rock with the waxy side down. (If your rock is dark colored, you'll use white graphite paper. If your rock is light colored, you'll use gray or black graphite paper.)

Place your pattern (face up) over the graphite paper. You can use masking tape to secure the pattern and graphite paper to the rock so it doesn't slip while you're tracing the image.

Trace around all the lines of your image using a stylus or pencil.

Remove the pattern and graphite paper and paint your rock.

Pattern transferred onto the rock

The rock after it was painted and sealed

I used a stained glass pattern for this painted rock but you can use photos and other patterns just as easily. (Remember to copy or scan them first so the original isn't damaged.)

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks 

Free Rock Painting Projects - Love Bugs, Cactus, Stone Tablet, Pansies

This week's free rock painting lessons and tutorials are brought to you courtesy of  the Creativity Portal together with Ernestina Gallina.

The Creativity Portal is a great website for inspiring creativity. All types of arts and crafts are featured on the site including rock painting ideas and inspiration.

Ernestina Gallina (featured on my blog in an earlier post) has shared these additional lessons on the Creativity Portal website.

These free, how-to rock painting guides include:

• Supplies you'll need
• Illustrated step-by-step instructions for creating your very own painted rocks

Valentine Love Bugs

Valentine Love Bugs I painted on rocks using a free how-to lesson

These little, painted Love Bug stones make really cute Valentine's Day gifts. I took the idea a little further by arranging the painted Love Bug rocks in a Valentine basket and also found a valentine handkerchief to use as padding. Of course, Love Bug rocks aren't just for holidays. You can also show that special someone how much you love them by hand painting a Love Bug for them.

Stone Cactus Project

A stone cactus I made using this free, how-to lesson

My friend said my cactus looked like a pickle. Her daughter loved it and wanted it for her own. I definitely need more practice painting rock cacti but that's the beauty of trying out rock painting using free tutorials.

I modified Ernestina's project with my own ideas. I did not feel comfortable using moulding powder (plaster of Paris) due to the safety precaution warnings. Instead I made my own version using flour and water. It was very messy and next time I will just anchor the painted rock in a pot with pea gravel or small pebbles instead of permanently anchoring it.

As a finishing touch, I glued pea gravel to the top of the pot instead of colored sand as suggested in the project.

Written in Stone

My painted rock using the Written in Stone tutorial

This project was a little more challenging and I have only painted one rock using this free how-to guide. I chose one of my favorite scripture verses: "A happy heart makes the face cheerful" from Proverbs 15:13. It's a clever idea for painting all those favorite quotes, sayings, and personalized messages on rocks for those special people in your life.

Painting a Basket of Pansies

My pansies in a basket from this free tutorial

Of these four, free, how-to lessons, I think this pansy tutorial is the most challenging. However, the end product is just beautiful and once you have the pattern, you can vary the colors of the pansies. (This project was on my rock painting "to do" list and I finally painted it in June 2017.)


Thank you Creativity Portal and Ernestina Gallina for giving us more rock painting inspiration and nudging our creativity.



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