Rock painting is great fun! Not only is it a great pastime, but painted rocks make great gifts, too. They can also be used in many other ways around the house and garden to improve your décor.
Before painting your rocks, they need to be clean and free of any loose bits. Give them a good scrub with soapy water and leave them to dry.
If you want to use your rocks outside, you will need to paint them with a paint that will withstand the weather. Try enamel paints, or those intended for use on boats. Ask at your local hardware store, and they should be able to help – it all depends on your local climates!
If you are going to use your rocks inside, then they can be painted with ordinary acrylic paints.
You can use any size rock or stone that you want, and you can either paint them to bring out the shape that they already have, or just use them as a canvas.
To make the rock look like a ladybird, or elephant, you will have to choose one that has the right shape to start with. Look at all your rocks and squint a bit. Try to see what they look like, and paint them as that. You can’t decide what to paint and impose that upon the shape of a rock.
To use a rock as a canvas, choose one that has at least one large flat side. You can use the natural color of the rock as your background, or paint a base coat of black, blue or off white.
Depending on the size of your rock, you will need to choose a variety of different sized brushes. Generally, the smaller the brush the better.
You can use painted rocks for all sorts of things:
· invitations – paint rocks to match your theme and use them as invitations
· door stops – use really big rocks as doorstops, either inside or out
·. Once you get good at them, people will come asking you to make them for their own celebrations and to mark special occasions.
Happy painting!
