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

By Samantha Sarles

Rock Art Handbook shows you all of the best techniques for creating amazing rock art, with more than 30 step-by-step tutorials featuring dot painting, marbling, embellishments, and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781607655206

Samantha Sarles

Samantha Sarles is known for painted rocks, colorful and inspiring art, and a rainbow-themed aesthetic. With ten years marketing and branding experience at a Fortune 500 corporation, Sam created her own art and DIY-centered brand after becoming a mom. Since then she has amassed 30,000+ followers on Instagram, where her work has been featured by companies like Starbucks, The Huffington Post, and Michaels Craft Stores. Sam also has 100,000+ followers on Facebook, where her rock doodling video has nearly 2 million views. She blogs at colormadehappy.com.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

FINDING THE RIGHT ROCKS AND PREPPING ROCKS

Every once in a while you find a rock that looks perfect, but in reality there’s no such thing as a perfect rock. Each rock serves a different purpose. Although it would be nice to always have a smooth and symmetrical surface to work on, it’s not required for creating beautiful rock art. Sometimes it’s the seemingly imperfect rocks that turn out to be the most unique. They can really inspire our creativity!

Where to Find Rocks

OUTSIDE

The obvious place to find rocks is outside! While you might think there aren’t many rocks where you live, you’d be surprised what you can find when you start looking. And it’s a great excuse, too, to get outside and get some exercise. Start by looking for some local hiking trails. If you have kids, this is a wonderful opportunity to spend some family bonding time together. Make it feel like a real-life treasure hunt! It’s important though to check your state and local laws about rock removal.

CRAFT STORES

Sometimes local craft and dollar stores will have bags of small rocks for purchase.

LOCAL LANDSCAPE COMPANIES AND STONE YARDS

Local landscape companies and stone yards are great places to find rocks that can be purchased in bulk. Look for Mexican beach pebble and river rock as great options.

GARDEN CENTERS

Garden centers tend to carry a wide range of rock options. Hardware and home improvement stores are also great places to look for stones.

ONLINE

Isn’t it amazing that you can also purchase rocks online! Do a quick Google search for smooth river rocks and you’ll see a good amount of options. You can purchase rocks on Amazon as well.

Tip

The only thing I advise against is purchasing rocks that are shiny with a wax film over them. The wax film makes it very difficult for paint or markers to adhere to the rock.

Prepping Rocks for Art

HOW TO CLEAN ROCKS

People have different ways of cleaning their rocks. Some even use soap and water. I prefer to keep it simple. For all the years I’ve been painting rocks, I simply lay the rocks on the ground and spray them with a hose. I do use a spout that can be turned on high so that the pressure washes away any extra grime. Once they are hosed off, I either let the sun dry them or use a towel to dry them off. It’s handy to have a tray or basket on hand for transporting them back into the house.

Tip

Do not use your dishwasher or sink for cleaning rocks, as you could clog or damage your pipes with the debris.

PRIMING ROCKS

For many of the rocks in this book, I typically start with a white or black primed surface. Without a primed surface, most art supplies and mediums would not show up or would not appear as bright. Sometimes it’s not necessary to prime your rocks at all.

HERE ARE SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS TO PRIME YOUR ROCKS FOR DECORATIVE ART.

1. Spray a white or black primer onto the rock.

•I use this technique most often, as it’s an easy and economical way to cover a large amount of rocks in a short time. I prefer the look of a flat primer, and use both the white and black Krylon flat primers.

•To apply, keep the can about 12 inches away from the rocks as you spray them, and only spray in a well-ventilated area or outside. I prefer outside on the grass with the rocks on top of a large piece of cardboard. Additionally, I wear a protective mask to help prevent inhalation of the spray.

2. Apply white or black acrylic paint directly onto the rock using a paintbrush.

•This is a good technique if you only have a few rocks to cover.

•You’ll need 2 to 3 coats of paint and a large paintbrush. Be sure to let each layer of paint dry before adding another.

•Apply the paint with a flat paintbrush for a smooth, primed finish. (See page 26 for more on acrylic paint.)

3. Create a silhouette outline using white or black acrylic paint.

•I love using silhouettes to decorate only a portion of the rock. It helps retain the natural beauty of the rock. Here are a few different ways to draw the silhouette outline onto the rock:

-Draw freehand onto the rock using a regular pencil.

-Cut out a shape using card stock and trace around the shape onto the rock using a pencil.

-Use a stencil to outline a design and paint inside. Or use a pouncer paintbrush or a regular brush with paint directly over the stencil.

-Print out a silhouette outline and trace around it.

-Use a paper punch and then outline around the punched-out shape onto the rock.

4. Apply gesso directly to the rock using a brush.

•While I don’t typically use gesso, many artists like to use it as a primer on rocks.

Now that your rocks are prepped and ready, here comes the fun part: decorating them! The goal of this handbook is to help you see that there are MANY ways to decorate rocks. Think of this book as the encyclopedia of rock decorating. What many don’t know is that if you can do it on paper, you can most likely do it on a rock. Let the ideas that follow spur your creativity. You can even combine many of these decorative ideas and mediums together to create your own beautiful and unique designs.

Reviews for Rock Art Handbook

[jackie_hull · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! There are so many ideas and some pretty neat tricks. If you have kids then this book is for you!

[Megan Kendall · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome! Best rock painting book on Scribd! Tons of different ideas step-by-step. Also demonstrating different mediums of color to paint/color rocks