Someone recently asked me to paint rocks with them. In typical Zack fashion, I went off the deep end and invested in learning about painting rocks and creating art out of rocks. You can paint the rock and let it go somewhere so other people can see it. Some have pictures; others have motivational words.
This leads to the question of how one paints rocks. I got together my art supplies and have tried several different approaches. I brought acrylic Posca and Krink Markers, Sharpie oil markers, and one shot paints and brushes.
After testing, I would say that oils and 1 Shot Paints work the best. While I can layer on some acrylics and get something on the rock, it doesn’t look smooth. It will take several layers actually to coat a rock.
While 1 Shot is fantastic, it takes a long time to dry. I’ve base-coated a bunch of rocks and then gone over them with oil markers or a second layer of 1 shot. So far, I’ve done about 5 or 6 rocks, and a few have been placed around the town. I plan to paint more and put more.
If you are looking to try this out, I’d recommend looking at the Sharpie oil based markers as an excellent place to start.
The downside of these markers is that colors are relatively limited, and I must figure out how to combine them. The 1 Shot paints come in more colors and can be mixed to create even more color combinations.
I’m also looking into carving some rocks with my Dremel-like device. The goal is to add more depth to the stones than just color. Good luck finding these rocks.