Over 40 of the BEST Rock Painting Ideas including animals, wall hangings, food, garden markers, decor, and amazing stone art!
Learn how to make a fairy door from a painted rock! Hide the fairy rocks around or build a village of magical fairy houses in your backyard.
Back in May, one of my co-workers shared a school-wide project idea that went viral on social media from Scarymommy.com. The project was a rock garden inspired by the book "Only One You" by Linda Kranz, and decorated the landscaping of Sharon Elementary School in Newburgh, Indiana. The garden was the idea of Jessica Moyes, who is the art teacher at Sharon Elementary. Jessica, your design has inspired multiple schools to create their own rock gardens within their own schools. Our school's parents were even sending links of this project to the principal requesting the garden! There's few posts from other bloggers and teachers talking about their rock garden installations at their schools. I'd love to share our story, along with the methods used in gathering materials, containing painting with K-6, incorporating all staff, and how to complete the installation. The Materials Thanks to Streamline Landscaping in Willow Springs, IL, we receive a few buckets of smooth rocks to use for our rock garden! The landscapers even came by to see how we were doing with creation, and donated even more larger stones for each class and department in the school. We also received a donation of acrylic paint and markers from Oriental Tradings! The donated materials really helped with supply management! Here's the materials you need to complete this project: 1. Lots and lots of rocks. Consider calling a local landscaping company and ask for a donation. The rock size can be your choice. 2. Table clothes. This was a life saver for all 31 of my classes who painted (700+ students). 3. Paper towels and paper plates. Tear up sections of paper towels for students to keep under their rocks while painting. Paper plates make it 100% easier to manage the paint messes and clean-ups. 4. A copy of "Only One You" by Linda Kranz. Easily found on Amazon, or other book sellers. 5. Acrylic paint. As much as it's scary working with acrylic at K-1 ages, it's the only paint that will stay on the rocks over time. Some acrylics paint on a little transparent, while others will be more opaque. Again, your choice. Here's the link to the acrylic paint used from Oriental Trading. 6. Paint brushes, cups, and water. 7. Permanent markers. If you photograph all artworks for Artsonia, or need to know who made what rock for grading, use permanent markers for students to write their names. Oh...and add room numbers too. It really helps with organizing. If you use markers for details, keep in mind that markers do fade over time. Here's the link to the sharpie marker set from Oriental Trading. 8. Acrylic clear coat. In order for the paint to stay as long as it can on the rocks in outdoor weather, you need to spray all the finished rocks with a clear coat for protection. For a safety note, make sure you spray outdoors and after school hours, because this smell can draft down the hallways. 9. Bins for storage. This is going to be heavy! For transporting from classroom to garden set-up, make sure you have plastic, durable bins to use for organization and transportation. 10. Aprons or old shirts. If you're doing this project with young students, you need clothing protection. The Objective The purpose of creating a community project was to have student leave a "footprint" in the school. The positive message in the final pages of the book is "There is only one you in this great, big world...make it a better place." All the students from grades K-6 were read the book and took in the words of wisdom shared. Each student painted their own "fish" rock with their own colors and patterns. The Project I allotted two full weeks for all classes to complete their rocks. Each of my classes are 40 minutes in length, and visit once a week. Prior to starting the painting, I sent a note home to each student explaining the project and materials being used. Since we had so many younger grade levels, I made a huge recommendation to parents to have their children bring an art shirt to school or an apron to protect their clothing. One parent donated a box of plastic aprons, which really helped with the younger grade levels! The teachers even helped with mentioning the extra art shirt in their weekend newsletters, which really helped!!! For prepping, I set up a plate of colors for each table. If I made the plates last longer than two classes, I called it a success. Kindergarten classes only received 5 colors (red, blue, yellow, green, white) because no matter what you do, the plates only last about 10 minutes of pure colors. Once the students see that colors mix, the plate very quickly turned to brown. On the first day of class, the book was read and we had a small discussion about the wisdom shared and how they can help in creating a garden for the school. For the rest of the class, the students painted their rocks. I organized drying areas for each class by placing colored paper and a painted large rock with the class name on it. When students finished painting, they placed their rocks on a paper labeled with their class. Students were also asked to sign a class rock that their fish will swim around. Since Kindergarten and 1st grade finished quickly, they were only given one day to work on the rocks. Afterwards, I glued a google eye to the fish. (The google eyes will not stay on for more than a few weeks. It's good for the beginning pictures, but it will not last forever with a glue gun.) On the second day of the project, grades 2-6 used permanent markers to trace out eyes, mouth, patterns, fins, and details in their rocks. Since this step only takes about 5-10 minutes to complete, I found worksheets on Linda Kranz's website that students colored and filled out. The worksheets can be found here. Remember when I said that departments also receive a rock? I painted fish rocks for the front office (administrators, nurses, secretaries), lunchroom, custodians, Title 1, ELL, Special Education, and Specials! They're mixed in with the class rocks below ready for installation! Now the fun part...getting over 7 bins of rocks and large river rock into the courtyard! With lots of helping hands, we transported all the pebbles to the courtyard so I could spray them with the acrylic clear coat. The custodians were also very helping in clearing out an area in our courtyard before installation! And the sign has been made... On the day of installation, students and staff were invited to participate in the installation process. ALMOST DONE!!!! And here's the finished project! Our school has been passing around the golden pineapple award for teachers sharing positive events in our school, and on the day the garden was being installed, a student dropped this award off in my classroom! Totally excited and honored to have this award for this project! It's for the entire school for their participation!!! SaveSave
Is it an apple? A cinnamon roll? An over easy egg? These painted rocks might look edible, but don't eat them!
Students paint rocks inspired by popular children's book to create a colorful landscape design,
In this post I walk you through how to paint rocks and cliffs, using some stunning master paintings to help demonstrate my points.
Students paint rocks inspired by popular children's book to create a colorful landscape design,
Using Polymer Clay & Mixed Media This cave paintings background tutorial will show you how to make your own backdrop for your prehistoric creations. Whimsical Sculpting Tutorials Club members a…
Students paint rocks inspired by popular children's book to create a colorful landscape design,
Natural Earth Pigments are lush, they hold color in a unique way, not like any other. They are textural and reflect fragments of light, revealing the true beauty of iron. They are deep, full of secret beauty. They hide in earth crevices emitting energy waiting for discovery.
Mixing intricate Japanese basket weaving techniques and naval knots, Betsy highlights the beauty of rocks and their natural symmetry by wrapping them with cane strips.
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There are certain units in art class that take on a life of their own and just GROW! My Cave art unit turned out even better than I had anticipated and grew into a Pre-K – Grade 5 theme due…
Indigenous Australians use plant shoots, Echidna quills and small twigs to paint their Dreamtime stories. Here are 12 Dot Painting Templates to enjoy with the elderly.
Natural Earth Pigments are lush, they hold color in a unique way, not like any other. They are textural and reflect fragments of light, revealing the true beauty of iron. They are deep, full of secret beauty. They hide in earth crevices emitting energy waiting for discovery.
A few weeks ago, I hosted a chalkboard paint party and was so inspired by everything all of you have created recently with chalkboard paint! What won't we make into a chalkboard these days? Warning
These hacks will help your paint job you've always wanted without the extra mess or stress.
A watercolour by internationally renowned artist, botanical illustrator and author, Philippa Nikulinsky AM is one of the many delights of the WA Museum Boola Bardip. This work is the result of an approach by the WA Museum in 2019 to see if Philippa was interested in creating a painting of WA wildflowers, particularly from Kwongan […]
Free DIY Walk-throughs, building plans, and other crafty discussions!
Hey guys, I'm working on a university project and am looking for some critique/feedback.
As I'll be teaching a workshop in the Sierra Buttes in a few weeks, I wanted to do a post talking about my setup, present and past, to take any mystery out of it, as well as help inform those that are contemplating the purchase of an umbrella, a pastel box, backpack, etc. The photos above shows the way I'm currently working. I'm using an allinone easel, mounted on an old Manfrotto tripod. I can adjust it to comfortably work sitting or standing. This is a 10 x 14 pochade box, which has a hinged foam core panel to mount your paper on. There is storage behind the easel, which is held by velcro. I made a simple storage pad out of glassine, canson, and cardboard, to hold blank paper, as well as finished art, which fits in that space. I can also use the pad to mount paper on for a vertical composition, as shown in the top image. As far as umbrellas go, I've used a variety of them over the years, losing several every year to unexpected gusts of wind. I am currently using the bestbrella, which has worked well for me for the last 7 months. One improvement over other umbrellas is that it is silver on the outside, and opaque black on the inside, reflecting heat, and eliminating diffuse glare. A white umbrella can over illuminate your work under certain circumstances. The mount is extremely sturdy and adjustable. Everything fits into the backpack below, plus a bag for the tripod, and the umbrella mount. If I want to, I can secure the tripod bag to the backpack to keep my hands free. To choose a backpack, I simply went to a sporting goods store with all my art supplies, and started trying to fit everything into the packs they had on display. The folding camp stool is from there as well. Other items I carry are a camera, usually looped through my belt, water, sketchbook, and and wipes for my hands. It's ok to have extra room for snacks, extra clothes (windbreaker, hat). Here's a typical setup by the side of the road. No umbrella needed, as it was an overcast day. The above image shows the way I worked for about 10 years. Same stool, backpack, and tripod as I currently use, but a large, wooden pastel box from Dakota Art Supplies. Also shown is one of the many umbrellas that took a beating over the years. Below is me finishing one last piece before hiking out on the last day of a packtrip in the Sierra. Note the white umbrella. The dark one's provide a more balanced shade than the white umbrellas, imho. Here's an 'ultralite plein air' setup: One small box of pastels, many of them cut in half to accommodate more colors, a tracing pad cut down for storage, with a same size sheet of foam core to clip paper to. The whole thing fits in a zip-lock bag. Just sit on the ground and start painting. I took this setup backpacking last year, and had a similar setup for a raft trip down the Grand Canyon a few years ago. The truth is the gear is of less important than the experience. At the same time, you want equipment that will be comfortable, reliable, and easy to use. Being able to stand, or sit, as well as control your shade, are very useful 'tools' for working outdoors. You have more options about where to paint that way. Lastly, consider the weight of everything. An 'ideal' setup is the one you're willing to carry with you for a couple of miles.
Welcome back to school! Over the summer, my husband and I played an Escape Game. If y'all aren't familiar, the concept is that you are "locked" in a room that is filled with clues to help you escape. The clues usually involve code-breaking, riddle-solving and just plain old hide-n-seek. We had so much fun that I decided to bring the concept to the art room. I thought it would be a great way to introduce my kids to the rules, routines and the space that we call the art room. It was such a blast that I thought I'd share it with y'all! As the students entered the art room, I had one kid stand at the door and pass out these small slips of paper. There were 7 different colors with about 5 of each. This year I average about 32 third and fourth graders per class so I needed to make sure I had enough for everyone. Once seated on the floor, I started this video: A whole lotta (poor) editing went into this bad boy. Apparently I forget to edit the part where I adjust my wig. AND, if you make it all the way to the end of this video, you'll catch a look of how I really felt wearing that too-tight head piece and super-sweaty pleather jacket. Regardless, the kids ATE.IT.UP. Just before I let them have at it, I read them the wee rules of the game... Now, if you're worried that the kids will get a lil to wild playing this game, I found a sure-fire trick: Tell them there are SPIES watching. I fibbed to the kids and told them that before class had started, I had pulled aside a couple of kids to be my spies. Their job was to listen and share the secrets they overheard with other teams. Oh my goodness, y'all. Those fourth graders took that so seriously it was bananaz! My only other rule was no running...I have a big room and there was A LOT of excitement. But we can't be running in the art room, y'all. Once I gave them the go-ahead, the kids immediately teamed up and went to their coordinating table. There they found this: To make things easy for myself, I made all the puzzles identical. Some kids figured out that they were just to look for the yellow heart...but my rule was that all puzzles had to be solved before moving on to the next. My favorite was when one team said, "our puzzle is too hard!"...and I'm all, "Dudes. They are all the same." Once the puzzles were solved, the kids went in search of their heart. I made sure to hide these pretty well so it was a bit like an Easter egg hunt. Once they found their box, the kids discovered the following inside: A dry erase board and marker, a decoder and a code to solve. Each of the seven boxes contained riddles which revealed the class rules. They were to solve the riddle and return to our spot on the floor with their dry erase board. Just in case you'd like to use the code feel free! The Rockin' Riddle Rules the kids solved here: have fun, be respectful, follow directions, raise your hand, take pride and be nice. They were highly engaged, that's for sure! Once everyone had their rules, I played the next clip in the video where I chat about each rule. Then we were on to a self-guided room tour complete with a back-stage pass. (Yes, we refer to the place to put our dirty paint brushes as a "hot tub". Don't judge.) I tried to think of the places in my art room where the kids would visit the most. I also came up with fun clues to help them find those places. I had specific dry erase marker colors in each spot so they couldn't just write the answers in. Also, I had them go to the places on their pass in the order listed so we wouldn't have any traffic jams. A peek at how I labeled the places and placed the markers. Where we play the Smartest Artist game. After the passes were full, we met again on the floor. In the next part of the video, I take them on a tour explaining the different places in the art room and emergency procedures. The final phase of the game was a "solo mission". Each artist was given three Post-It's and a Sharpie. They could pick from any of the six questions on my board to answer in a complete sentence. Once finished, they returned to the floor where we played a quick round of Smartest Artist before heading out the door. You.Guys. I hadn't had a chance to read what they had written until this morning. It made my day! I mean... This was only after a couple of classes had a chance to write. I can't wait to see these filled up! I plan to hang them around the school for our Open House Night. Because my focus is Peace, Love and Kindess this year, this is an important question for my kids. Their responses let me know that they KNOW the answer...we just gotta make it happen. Thank you for allowing me to share this super fun way to kick off the school year! Feel free to steal any ideas you see here. I'd LOVE to know if you do this kind of thing with your students. The kids told me that they are excited to play this kind of game again...which can only mean that this will be a new and fun way to introduce new concepts to the kids. An Elements of Art Escape Game, anyone?! YES, PLEASE!
Joaquin Jara is versatile. Born in Barcelona, he studied art at La Llotja, in Barcelona, and the Camberwell College of Arts in London. He finished neither. Why should he? He knew precisely what he was doing.
