Monday, April 1, 2019
Butterfly & Pansy Rock
A Fairy Picnic Hand-Painted Rock for Sale
Mini Fairy Garden Figurines (click link or picture above to learn more) |
Monday, April 9, 2018
Using Transfer Paper to Design a Rock
If you paint your background a dark color, such as black, you would use a light-colored transfer paper to trace your design.
Transfer paper comes in graphite (looks like black) and white, and these are the ones that I have used in my rock designs. It also comes in yellow, blue and red.
I don't really know what the purpose of the latter three colors is, however, I'm sure yellow transfer paper, being a light color, would work on a black background, just as easily as white.
Once the design is painted on your rock, you are not going to see the tracing lines anyway, so it doesn't really matter what color transfer paper you will use. The main purpose of the transfer paper is to give you a good outline.
I like to be specific with my instructions, so just to reiterate...
If you paint your background white for instance, then you would use the black transfer paper (graphite) to trace your base design onto your piece.
The opposite is true if you paint your background black, then you would obviously use a light color (white, yellow) transfer paper to get your outline transferred.
I used transfer paper to design quite a few of my rocks. My dragonfly rock was designed this way, here is a picture below.
Stained Glass Themed Dragonfly Rock |
I use the transfer paper method most of the time when I want to paint a stained glass theme. It works well because the outlines are wide and it's very easy to do.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Hand Painted Angel Rocks
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You can use a book like this one (affiliate link) to create your own amazing stained glass art on a rock I will explain how a book like this can make it easy for you in the link directly below... |
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Thursday, January 18, 2018
The Wonderful World of Rock Painting
This blog will be dedicated to my crafting passion which may, to some, be considered somewhat of an unusual one… "I love painting on rocks!"
There, I said it, lol!
I knew I was hooked when I picked up a copy of "Painting Flowers on Rocks" by Lin Wellford.
Lin is the master rock painter in my opinion and gives great instruction in all of her educational books on painting.
Pictured below is one of my painted flower rocks that I learned how to make from the book mentioned above. (click on the link above to learn more about the book.
Throughout this blog, I will share my own painted rock creations as well as those of other rock painters. I will share tips and tricks and instructional video and information about the world of rock painting.
Be creative, and be happy!
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Rock Painting Basics
Painting on rocks is an easy, fun, and inexpensive craft for all ages. The sky is the limit as to what you can paint on rocks.
Rocks to Purchase On-line |
Rocks are everywhere! You can even buy a bag of them online now. Smooth painted stones are a great canvas to start painting on.
The more you paint on rocks, the more you will see interesting rocks laying about.
When I paint tall flowers like hollyhocks, irises, or sunflowers, I like to use a tall, thinner piece of slate.
You can probably find pieces of slate in a rural area, but you will probably have better luck in a local stone yard (click this link to learn more about where you can buy rocks at a local seller).
You just might be surprised at how an ordinary rock will start to stir the creativeness within you.
Different shaped rocks can obviously become different things.
Smooth round rocks are probably better for flowers that grow low to the ground, such as impatiens, violets, phlox and ground cover.
You can find rounder rocks at a stone yard as well. Here is a link to another article which will show you how to go about purchasing rocks at a local stone yard near your home...
I like to paint flowers on rocks. Fairies too. Here is a link to some of the pictures of my hand painted rocks.
All you need is a little imagination, a few inexpensive supplies, oh, and a rock! LOL!
So once you have your rock selected, you will need some other supplies that can easily be purchased at a local craft store or on line.
How To Start Painting on Rocks
Painted rocks can make beautiful additions to an already beautiful garden...
Pink Gerbera Daisies Hand-Painted Rock by nancymaggielee |
When your rock is displayed among other flowers, from a distance you may not even be able to tell which ones are real and which ones are painted!
Hand-painted rocks make excellent gifts, and one of the best things about painted flowers is that they last forever!
Firstly, many times they are free which, in my book, free is always nice!
I'll explain more about where to find rocks in the post called "Gathering Supplies".
Secondly, rocks are extremely forgiving of mistakes.
If you don't like what you have painted, you can easily start over again with no problem at all.
Just paint over your mistakes and try again until you get it to your liking!
Painting is a relaxing hobby and if you need a creative outlet, it can be a great stress reliever as well.
It's a fun craft for kids too, they love it. I painted my first rock when I was a child and really liked it. You can read that story here.
Later on in life I turned my rock painting passion into a business and started selling my rock creations on Ebay and Etsy.
The daisy rock painting pictured above was painted using my stencil method. Learn more about using stencils in the art of rock painting here.
This gives me a chance to share my creations with others, and speaking as an artist, there's no greater satisfaction than seeing someone else appreciate my creations.
The rock scene pictured below displays irises, tulips, daffodils, impatiens, crocuses, and pansies. It is a large (over 2 ft. tall) custom piece I created for a customer and I am very proud to display it here on this page.
I love to paint on rocks! I picked up a copy of Painting Flowers on Rocks by Lin Wellford about 15 years ago and I have been hooked ever since.
There are four basic steps to painting on rocks and they are as follows:
1. Gathering supplies
2. Draw your design or transfer your design to your rock
3. Paint your rock with your preferred method
4. Seal your rock with a weather resistant sealant
Painting Flowers on Rocks by Lin Wellford |
Using a Stencil to Transfer a Design onto a Rock
Many different craft stores carry a good selection of stencils, but there is probably a better selection available online and at different stenciling websites.
Stencil Kingdom has an enormous variety of stencils that come in all shapes and sizes...
This daffodil stencil is from Stencil Kingdom (non-affiliate link highlighted in paragraph above) |
Stencils are simply pieces of plastic with a design cut in it for outlining.
Using the above picture as a reference, the colors shown (yellow, green, and orange in this case) would be openings cut into the plastic.
You will fill them in using a stencil a form of painting which is called stenciling, which is basically just using a special brush with a tapping motion (more about that later).
The rock you would need for the daffodils pictured above would probably need to be quite wide as well as tall to fit these beautiful spring flowers onto it so keep that in mind when making your selection.
The hosta flowers pictured below would need a similarly shaped rock...
Hosta Flower Stencil (Affiliate link) |
Stencil
Stencil brushes
Acrylic paints
Painters tape
Acrylic sealer
*Remember to keep the size and shape of your flower in mind when selecting your piece
Learn how to stencil by watching the videos below:
A stencil is a great tool to use for many reasons. Stencils come in so many different designs and sizes, the sky is the limit as to what you can paint or draw using a stencil.
Theorem stencils (non-affiliate link to Jean Hansen Publications) are basically just a stencils that come in multiple layers having different openings in each one. This will give your design a realistic effect.
If you decide to purchase a theorem stencil, the instructions for how to use it will be included on the package. You may want to purchase the exact colors the company recommends using with the theorem stencil you choose.
The reason I say this is because theorem stencils are based on multiple colors in each design giving a realistic shading effect that comes out just beautiful.
Jean Hansen Publications has a wide assortment of theorem stencils like the one pictured below...
Tulip Theorem Stencil |
Gathering Supplies and Where You can Find Rocks to Paint
Most of the time they are free, however you can now purchase rocks online too (more about that later).
Most towns or municipalities have a stone yard or landscape supplier where they sell rock, slate and stones by the ton (just Google 'stone yard + your town, state').
At most of these stone yards, they keep a pile of misfit rocks that they will sell to the public at a discounted rate. At my local stone center, they call me 'the rock lady', lol!
I buy rocks from the misfit pile, and they are nice enough to charge me the ton rate (which is about .10/lb.- remember they are broken pieces of rock that they can't sell to most customers because they are just that, broken and misshapen).
I also gave them a painted rock to display in their garden which has rendered me some custom work from a few people that saw it there, and also to thank them for giving me the special discount.
When you go to a rock yard, you will have to pick through piles of misshapen and broken rocks, so I will suggest you bring gloves, wear long pants and closed toed shoes, but most of all have fun deciding on which rocks will best fit your project.
For example, if you're painting irises, you will want a tall rock, and if you're painting a basket of forget-me-nots (see the pic below), you would need a smaller and perhaps rounder rock.
Forget Me Not Basket https://www.pinterest.com/nancygirlrocks/hand-painted-rocks-by-nancymaggielee/ |
Your local craft store such as Hobby Lobby will have many of the supplies you need, or you can also purchase everything you need on Amazon, even the rocks!
People everywhere are gathering together to paint small rocks, then hide them for others to find their inspirational messages. You can read about that here.
Rocks for painting available to purchase online |
You can start by painting on smooth stones like the ones pictured above, then perhaps if you like it, start hunting around for rocks in nature at places like the beach or on a nature walk through a greenway.
A local rock yard like the one pictured below will provide a great variety of rock shapes to get your creative juices flowing.
Rock Painting Kits |
Rock Painting Books |
How to Paint Forget-Me-Nots on a Rock
Fairy Stencils |