How to Paint a River Rock

Painting on a River Rock

Painting a river rock can give you a fun way to preserve a rock you brought home from a favorite trip. It is also a fantastic hobby, that has become extremely popular. You do not have to take lessons, or be an artist to enjoy painting rocks and the only think you have to do to start, is find rocks, or all shapes and sizes. Just make sure that they are shapped well enough to be decorated.

Steps to paint on a river rock:

1. Clean your river rock, making sure that no dirt is attached to it and that it is not flaking off in any place. An old toothbrush that no one's using any more is a great cleaning tool. After it is completely dry, lightly sketch the design you plan to paint on the surface. Use a light pencil as it may show through under lighter paint.


2. Assemble your paints. Use acrylic paints from a tube, such as Liquitex, or a paint made for outdoor use such as Plaid paint. (It has a bird house shape on the top to indicate that the paint is outdoor safe.


3. Use an old plate, wax paper, or foil folded around a piece of cardboard for a palette to mix paint on.


4. Use acrylic paint brushes, semi stiff. Get several sizes to use for larger areas, then details can be painted with a smaller brush. Some prefer to use flat brushes to paint bigger areas, switching to a pointed brush for finishing touches.


5. Begin by painting large areas in. A common problem is wanting to start on the fun little stuff and then having to paint around it. Remember big to little. When large areas are finished let them dry before trying to paint next to or on top of them.


6. Paint smaller areas and add finishing touches. Layer colors or add texture. You can also do this with Sharpie or other permanent markers. When the rock has had at least a day to dry, spray it with a clear urethane finish. Do this outdoors or in a well ventilated area so you do not breathe the vapors. This should be done by an adult or older child under adult supervision.
   

Tips & Tricks:

1. Use a palette knife or craft stick to mix paint.
2. A palette can be made out of an old plate, wax paper, or by folding aluminum foil around a piece of cardboard.
3. Brushes need to be washed well with soap and water when you are finished. While painting do not store brush in water, as that damages the tip. Rinse and lay flat on table.
4. Do not allow brush to dry with paint in it.
5. River rocks have many different shapes. They are a craft for artists, who draw and paint them instead of a canvas. They make beautiful gifts. These are not 'pet rocks', but an artistic craft.
6. Find any rocks or large stones from any source. Clean them and decorate them. Use Acrylic pain, sign your name and date, and allow them to dry.

Warnings!

1. Acrylic paint does not wash out of clothing well. Wear a paint shirt, apron or old clothing you don't care about. Wash a spot immediately and you may be able to get it out.
   
2. Some colors of tube paint may not be suitable for young children to handle. Always look to see if there is a health label on the tube.
   
3. If you plan to do this project with very young children use tempera paint and spray varnish yourself or paint with polymer medium. Not as permanent but OK for indoor use.
   

Things You'll Need:

• Smooth clean rock
• Acrylic paint, or outdoor craft paint
• Brushes
• Palette
• Clear finishing spray varnish

Related Articles:

• How to Paint With Granite Paint
• How to Paint Miniatures
• How to Paint by Number
• How to Paint With Granite Paint

Sources and Citations: ↑ http://linwellford.com

Petroglyph Rock Art Symbols

Symbols for Communication
Petroglyphs are images incised in rock, usually by prehistoric, especially Neolithic, peoples. They were an important form of pre-writing symbols, used in communication from approximately 10,000 B.C.E. to modern times, depending on culture and location.

The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning "stone" and glyphein meaning "to carve" . The term 'petroglyph' should not be confused with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face, both of which contribute to the wider and more general category of rock art. Petroforms, or patterns and shapes made by many large rocks and boulders in rows over the ground, are also quite different.


Interpretation of Symbols on Rocks
These images probably had deep cultural and religious significance for the societies that created them. Many petroglyphs are thought to represent some kind of not-yet-fully understood symbolic or ritual language. Later glyphs from the Nordic Bronze Age in Scandinavia seem to refer to some form of territorial boundary between tribes, in addition to possible religious meanings.

Some researchers have noticed the resemblance of different styles of petroglyphs across different continents; while it is expected that all people would be inspired by their surroundings, it is harder to explain the common styles. In 1853 George Tate read a paper to the Berwick Naturalists' Club at which a Mr John Collingwood Bruce agreed that the carvings had '.. a common origin, and indicate a symbolic meaning, representing some popular thought.' In his cataloguing of Scottish rock art, Ronald Morris summarised 104 different theories on their interpretation.

Similarity of Petroglyphs
Other, more controversial, explanations are that the similarity of petroglyphs (and other atavistic or archetypal symbols) from different cultures and continents is a result of the genetically inherited structure of the human brain. Other theories suggest that petroglyphs were made by shamans in an altered state of consciousness, perhaps induced by the use of natural hallucinogens. Many of the geometric patterns (known as form constants) which recur in petroglyphs and cave paintings have been shown to be "hard-wired" into the human brain; they frequently occur in visual disturbances and hallucinations brought on by drugs, migraine and other stimuli.

Present-day links between shamanism and rock-art amongst the San people of the Kalahari desert have been studied by the Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) of the University of the Witwatersrand. Though the San people's artworks are predominantly paintings, the beliefs behind them can perhaps be used as a basis for understanding other types of rock art, including petroglyphs.