Monday, July 29, 2024

Rock Painting Tutorial #18 - "Fairies in Love"

"Fairies in Love"


Hi and welcome to my rock painting blog!  Thank you for joining me for this rock painting tutorial, it is my hope that you will find it fun and informative.

If you follow the directions outlined below, you will be able to create a rock just like the one pictured here...


Fairies in Love
Hand-Painted Rock by nancymaggielee



Before you begin

with the detailed STEP #’s below, you should do the following…

1.  Find a rock you want to paint, making sure it's the right size and shape for your image.  Wash and dry your rock.  If you need help finding a rock, read this article.

2.  Paint the rock with two coats of white acrylic paint using a foam paint brush.

3.  Select a picture you would like on your rock and print it out onto wax paper.

You may want to watch the videos and read the articles in the section below for more information about these pre-steps...

____________________________________________________________



REFERENCE ARTICLES & VIDEOS for more detailed information on the steps above

To learn how to find and download any image into a word processing document, resize it and print it out refer to the following article:


“Learn How to Find and Print Pictures after Downloading into Word Processing Documents” https://www.craftygirlsrock.net/2020/07/learn-how-to-find-and-print-pictures.html


Learn how to make your own wax paper sheets (from a roll of ordinary kitchen wax paper) to print on, watch this video:

How to Make Wax or Freezer Paper Sheets for your Inkjet Printer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EYCIbkP9lo


Learn how to transfer an image using freezer paper:

"Making Freezer Paper Sheets" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD2YLpSrsaY 

 

“How to Transfer an Image to a Rock Using White Acrylic Paint and Mod Podge” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkw4RLWs_sk


*Please note the following:

- The video links above may also be linked below in the STEPS, however, I just wanted to group them together in the beginning of this post so that you can get a general idea of what the procedure is.

-  Also noteworthy, the video links above in this section will most likely be from different rock painting tutorials, so while the image may be different, the procedure will be the same.  This is just pre-information linked together for your convenience and to reference throughout the tutorial.

____________________________________________________________


So, now that you have a general idea of what is involved and you have watched some of the above videos, you are ready to begin!

Are you ready to paint a beautiful rock???  Let’s go…

 


STEP #1:

   Deciding on an image and designing the rock in your mind


There are so many fairy images available on the Internet that this may very well be the hardest part of your rock painting!

I love painting flowers and fairies on my rocks, you may like to paint birds and butterflies.  There is no right or wrong way because there are no mistakes in crafts! 

For this rock painting tutorial, I will be using fairies as the subject of my rock painting.

Whatever you want to paint on your rock, using the method outlined in this blog post will require finding an image to transfer first and in order to do that, I have linked an article below this paragraph for your reference on this process...

“Learn How to Find and Print Pictures after Downloading into Word Processing Documents” https://www.craftygirlsrock.net/2020/07/learn-how-to-find-and-print-pictures.html (you may have already read this because it is included in the pre-steps section)

After you have found the image, you are going to transfer, you will print it out onto wax paper (see STEP #2 below).

This is the image I chose for the rock painting "Fairies in Love" featured in this blog post...




You can find many pictures of fairies on Pinterest.
I have a collection of fairy pictures linked here
 if you would like to view them.

You will notice from the picture of the finished rock at the top of this page that I flipped the image horizontally before I printed my image of these fairies onto wax paper.

It is not necessary to flip the image, but just keep it in mind that the image is going to be transferred face down onto the rock's surface and will be opposite of the image on the screen when you print it out onto the wax paper.

You can flip an image in two different ways. 

The first way is to use the 'Format Picture' commands at the top of the word processing page.   After copying and pasting the image into the word processing document, 'right click' on the picture with your mouse and a black line will appear around the image.

At the top of the page, you will see 'Format Picture' in the choices.  Go to 'Rotate' and then select 'Flip Horizontal'.  You can also use these 'Format Picture' commands to resize your image by moving the mouse back and forth on the black line around the picture.

The second way to flip the picture is in your computer's print commands.  Use the 'Advanced Features' in your print command and select 'mirror image' before sending it to the printer.



STEP #2:

   Print your image onto wax paper and transfer picture to your rock


Paint your rock’s surface with two coats of white acrylic paint, allowing each coat to dry in between.

Using your word processing program, print your image onto wax paper.  Allow it to dry for about 30 seconds before placing it face down onto the dry white paint surface of your rock.



This is what the wax paper will look like when it's secured to the
computer paper with Scotch tape.   Place an arrow on it too 
in case you want to re-insert the wax paper and print over
 the image 2 or 3 more times to get more ink on the wax paper
to make the transferred image more vibrant.



Wax paper sheet in the rear tray before printing image.






This is a picture of my print commands screen in
my word processing program.  Yours could be
the same, but if not, it will be similar.  This is
the screen where you can change the direction
of the image before printing.  Look for something
in your 'Print' menu like 'Printer Properties'






STEP #3:

   Place the Freezer Paper Image onto Rock’s Surface to Dry


Turn your wax paper image upside down onto your rock's surface.

Try not to move the paper at all because this will smudge the ink.  Once it is in place, secure the paper to the rock using Scotch tape to hold it steady so that it won’t slip.

Rub the back side of the paper gently with your fingertips and smooth out the paper and try to make sure every part of the inked surface of the picture is touching the rock’s surface.  Push out all bubbles that might have formed.




This is my rock with the wax paper image
placed face down before I burnished it
with my flat edge
.


Place a piece of wax paper over the image that's face down.  You will do this so that when you use a credit card or flat edge over it hopefully it won't tear. 

As you may know, wax paper is thin, so adding an extra layer of wax paper provides extra protection for your printed image by allowing you to push the paint onto the rock's surface with a little extra pressure using your flat edge or credit card.

Now use your flat edge to go over the wax paper sheets that are on your rocks surface; this is called burnishing.  Make sure you go over it several times for best results.



 

STEP #4:

Reveal the Image by Peeling off the Paper


Once you have burnished your image, gently peel the wax paper back to reveal the transferred image!  What fun!

I hope it turned out great, but if you have any questions or problems, please leave them in the 'Comments' section on this post and I will be happy to get back to you.

Use your paint pens to add color to your painting.  You can add definition to the image by using extra fine black Sharpies. 

You might also want to stencil some flowers onto blank spaces onto the rock to add more color and decoration.  Trace the flowers with the stencil and color them to your liking!

Apply at least three coats of Mod Podge with a foam brush to finish your rock. 

Your rock is now ready to enjoy for yourself, give away as a gift, or sell at a craft fair.

I hope you had fun, enjoy!



SOME SUPPLIES

Rocks for Painting https://amzn.to/2YmClyT

Inkjet Printer https://amzn.to/391bXx7

Computer Paper https://amzn.to/3ir89L1

Mod Podge Matte Gel Medium https://amzn.to/2Xh1idD

Painting Flowers on Rocks https://amzn.to/2Zwl87g

White acrylic paint https://amzn.to/3b4d00G

Paintbrushes https://amzn.to/3d6uScL

Arteza Paint Pens https://amzn.to/3cqpEYt

Sharpie Permanent Markers https://amzn.to/3eStQ4a

Sharpie Ultra Fine Black Marker (for outlines) https://amzn.to/2DOIkot

Art Markers https://amzn.to/30waJIX

Shuttle Art Markers https://amzn.to/31p8SoI

Peel and Stick Flower Stencil https://amzn.to/2C83JZo

Leaf and Ivy Stencil https://amzn.to/3km2vv7

Deco Art White Paint Pen https://amzn.to/2DzQX6D

Paint Markers https://amzn.to/2XGYzep

____________________________________________________________

Supplies Sidenote:   Not all of the above products will be needed for this particular tutorial. I have linked to some supplies that I use in my rock paintings so that you can have access to some of my favorite products, but you can find most of these in your local craft store.



Here are the links to other rock painting tutorials on this blog:

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #1 - A Basket of Pansies

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #2 - Gardening Animals

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #3 - Red & Orange Poppy Flowers

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #4 - Little Boy in a Bunny Costume

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #5 - Mama Bird & Chicks

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #6 - Fairies & Bunny Spring Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #7 - Beach Bunnies Family Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #8 - The Candy Corn Family

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #9 Daffodils Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #10 - Fairies & Daisies (Coming soon)

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #11 - Strawberry Fairy Rock

 


Some of my PINTEREST boards that may interest my crafty friends:

Hand Painted Rocks by nancymaggielee 

Stained Glass Painting & Glass Crafts

Rock Art 

Image Transfer

Water Color Clip Art 


Looking for a fun gift for someone in your life? Check out my Zazzle store... I have t-shirts, coffee mugs, Christmas ornaments, phone cases, office accessories, just to name a few!

Please visit my WEBSITES for more information about ROCK PAINTING:

Crafty Girls Rock

Hand-Painted Flower & Fairy Rocks

Hand-Painted Rocks

Painting Rocks!


Thanks again for visiting!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and hope to see you again soon.  And remember...

Be creative and be happy!

 

Sunday, January 14, 2024

Welcome!


Hello and welcome to my blog all about the wonderful world of painting on rocks!

I painted my first rock when I was about 10 years old in upstate New York while on vacation with my two best friends.  Here is a link to the story of the first rock I ever painted if you're interested...
"My Rock Painting Journey"

If you are looking for a hobby or just want to try a new craft, painting rocks can be a great way to express your creativity and bring many hours of relaxation and joy to your life.

On this blog "Painting Rocks!" I will share with you the techniques I use to paint my rocks in each one of the tutorials which are detailed on separate pages.  Please refer to the page linked above entitled 'Rock Painting Tutorials'.

The directions should be clear, and I think they will be well outlined step-by-step for each rock painting (each tutorial is also linked below on this page) so that if you would like to create a similar rock it will be easy for you to do.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment in the 'Comments' section and I will be happy to help!


Please visit my other blogs by clicking the link under each picture below...






Hand-Painted Rocks








Hand-Painted Flower & Fairy Rocks



ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #1 - A Basket of Pansies

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #2 - Gardening Animals

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #3 - Red & Orange Poppy Flowers

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #4 - Little Boy in a Bunny Costume

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #5 - Mama Bird & Chicks

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #6 - Fairies & Bunny Spring Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #7 - Beach Bunnies Family Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #8 - The Candy Corn Family

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #9 - Daffodils Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #10 - Fairies & Daisies 

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #11 - Strawberry Fairy Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #12 - Use a Coloring Book Page

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #13 - Daisy Flower Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #14 - Stained Glass Angel Theme

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #15 - Stained Glass Nativity Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #16 - Beautiful Peacock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #17 - Hummingbirds Rock

T-Shirt for your favorite rock painter
available on Etsy


Monday, May 15, 2023

How to Paint a Rock - "Transferring a Dover Flower Publications Image to a Rock's Surface"

Hi and thank you for your interest in this rock painting tutorial. This post will explain how to transfer a flower image to a rock's surface.

After the ink from the image is transferred, you can embellish the transfer with ink pens or acrylic paints to make it uniquely your own painting like the one pictured below...




In the video below I will demonstrate how to use water and a paint brush to go over the image that has been dried face down onto the surface of the rock.



Before this video begins, the rock's surface had been painted with two coats of white acrylic paint and dried before transferring the flower print (from Dover Publications).

The flower print was dried face down onto the rock's surface using the basic directions as outlined below this paragraph.

1) Print a picture of flowers from your computer from an inkjet printer. To make this easier, I have linked an article directly below outlining this process which you may want to go over before moving on to Step 2... Learn How to Find Pictures on Your Computer, Resize and Print from a WP Document 2) After reading the article directly above, use a paint brush to coat your rock's surface with white acrylic paint for the third time (it should already be coated and dried twice with the white paint). DO NOT LET IT DRY before moving on to Step 3.

3) Using a paint brush, directly coat the (inked side) printed image you are going to transfer with Mod Podge. While the Mod Podge is still wet, place the image onto the (third coat of) wet white acrylic paint (refer to Step 2 above).

So, just to reiterate... you will be using a wet coat of Mod Podge spread out onto the paper image itself and transferring it face down onto a (third) coat of wet white acrylic paint that is on the rock's surface. 4) Let the image dry thoroughly onto the rock's surface for a few hours. 5) Using a clean paintbrush and water, coat the back of the image (the non-inked side). You will see the colors of the image show through the paper.

This is what you want to happen. Let the water dry, and coat it again. Let it dry in between coats at least 6-10 more times. (Please refer to the video above to see this process demonstrated). 6) Making sure you have completed Step 5 above a few times, you will probably have already started to see the paper roll off the rock surface in small pills to reveal the ink that has dried into the white paint. 7) Regular computer paper comes in about 7 layers so this will be evident because you will see that every time you go over the surface with water that the pills, or little wet rolls of paper, will become a little larger every time. Use your index finger to very gently roll the wet paper off to reveal as much of the colorful ink as possible before you paint it. 8) Use your art markers or paints to go over the image that's been revealed and create your own unique flower painting by adding color and definition to base image. There are many ways to transfer images from paper to a hard surface. Transferring an image is fairly easy if you do it with the method in this video. Inkjet images are actually the best for this method.

If you don't have a color printer, you can also use a black and white image and refer to a picture on a computer screen for guidance on what colors to embellish your project with after it is transferred to your rock.


RELATED VIDEOS:

Fairies & Bunny Rock Painting Tutorial

The videos linked above show the method used in this tutorial but obviously are using a different image for that particular rock painting which they are from.


Please see my other rock painting tutorials by clicking on the links below...



ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #1 - A Basket of Pansies

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #2 - Gardening Animals

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #3 - Red & Orange Poppy Flowers

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #4 - Little Boy in a Bunny Costume

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #5 - Mama Bird & Chicks

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #6 - Fairies & Bunny Spring Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #7 - Beach Bunnies Family Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #8 - The Candy Corn Family

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #9 - Daffodils Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #10 - Fairies & Daisies

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #11 - Strawberry Fairy Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #12 - How to Paint a Flower Rock Using a Coloring Book Page

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #13 - Daisy Flower Rock

ROCK PAINTING TUTORIAL #14 - Stained Glass Angel Theme


You might find the videos linked below very helpful...

RELATED VIDEOS about transferring an image to a rock with Mod Podge:


Gardening Animals Rock - PART 1
"Transfer an Image with White Paint and Mod Podge"


Gardening Animals Rock Painting - PART 2
"Revealing the Image"



Gardening Animals Rock Painting - PART 3
"Using Paint Markers to Apply Color"


Gardening Animals Rock - PART 4 -
"Adding Stenciled Flowers to Outer Edges of your Rock Painting”



Gardening Animals Rock - PART 5 -
"Adding Color to Your Rock Using Paint Pens & Sharpies"



“How to Make Wax or Freezer Paper Sheets to Print from your Computer”





Please visit my other blogs by clicking the link under each picture below...






Hand-Painted Rocks








Hand-Painted Flower & Fairy Rocks