Aug6

Lazy Day Crafts: Painted Rocks

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Lazy Day Crafts: Painted Rocks

 

Materials:

Rocks preferably with a relatively smooth surface

Poster or acrylic paints

Brushes of various widths

Container for water

Palette or disposable smooth surface like wax paper

Soap

Paper towels

Newspaper or something similar to cover the surface of your work space

 

  1. Wash rocks thoroughly and dry. If rocks are very dirty, soak in a bucket of sudsy water, rinse and dry. Cover your work space
  2. Think of a design for the rock. Sometimes the rock suggests a design or an object. Stripes, dots, stars, swirls, circles are some ideas you can use alone or in combination.
  3. Select colors of paint and squeeze a small amount (about the size of a quarter to start) on the palette or wax paper.
  4. Prime the rock white if you selected lighter colors or brown if you selected darker colors. This step isn’t required but it makes the colors adhere to the rock better if there is a basic layer of paint to paint your design. Paint one side at a time and allow the rock to dry. Turn over and paint the other side.
  5. If you can’t think of a design, lay the paints on the surface randomly. Overlap the colors and see them run into each other.
  6.  Paint one side at a time and allow the design to dry. Turn over and paint the other side.
  7. Use your rocks to decorate your desk or your bedroom’s window sill.

VARIATION: Select yarn or string in different colors and dip into glue. Wrap around the rock in different directions. Allow the glue to dry.

VARIATION: Create rock creatures by gluing paper, pipe cleaners, pompoms, buttons and more

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About marion

I first wrote and sketched as a child growing up in Pittsburgh, PA and Brooklyn, New York. I received her first recognition for my creativity when I won the New York City Schools Art Award and participated in my first art exhibit in downtown Manhattan. I was fourteen and a half when I moved to Cyprus with my family. I experienced culture shock but I continued to write about and sketch the sights and sounds of another country and many other things. I am a creative person. I write children's and Young Adult fiction and nonfiction. I write historical and Coming of Age Young Adult novels. I also write picture books and art books for elementary school children. I am in the process of writing a fictionalized biography of a member of the Belgian Resistance who also fought for the US Army during World War II. I worked as a freelance editor for two local companies: College Prowler and SterlingHouse Publisher. I also worked as an assistant literary agent for Lee Shore Agency. I was attending Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction Program at the time and the experience was invaluable. My course work toward my Master of Arts degree in turn helped me at work. As an assistant literary agent, I reviewed all incoming manuscripts, cultivated a relationship with the writers we contracted and marketed our books to book publishers for sale. I “freelanced” my editing skills which included working with the manuscript acquisitions editor, selecting book covers with the art department, writing the book jacket blurb, reading film scripts and executing general office duties as assigned. Oh, by the way, I edited books, too. I even utilized Adobe InDesign for the editing that I did for College Prowler. I’ve also reviewed published books and conducted research. I have published nonfiction articles and books online and in print. As an artist, I have exhibited my mixed media drawings and collages nationally and regionally and have worked as a freelance designer and calligrapher. I have a BA in Studio Arts from the University of Pittsburgh and a MA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

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