11 tips to make rock painting easier and with the best results

11 tips to make rock painting easier. I’ve totally jumped on the rock painting craze and I have found that all techniques and supplies do not give the same results. What I thought would be the easiest and most convenient of supplies turned out to not be the case. Below you will find tips to make rock painting easier. There are also suggestions for materials to use when painting your rocks.

The links below are affiliate links and I earn a very small commission if you make a purchase. If you have found something that makes rock painting easier please share in the comments below.

Basic tips to make rock painting easier:

Do NOT remove rocks from government lands, parks, residences or businesses which has been landscaped with rocks. They paid for those and you can too. You can also go find them in your back yard. Landscape supply places and big box stores carry them. Amazon does to and they deliver – Black rocks , White Rocks Going to a landscape supplier is really the cheapest place to get them and you can hand-pick them.
Prepare your rocks with a scrub, wash and dry.
Porous rocks should be sealed with Mod Podge or Ceramcoat Exterior/Interior Varnish to keep paint from chipping. I speak from experience.
Adding an extra coat of Varnish after you are finished will help the rocks keep their color and design longer.
Work on multiple rocks at a time. While one layer is drying, begin work on others. Some rocks will need several base coats to get a solid surface upon which to place your designs.
Let the shape of the rocks guide you. This one looked like an alien to me so I went with it.
Paint a white or another color base coat on your rocks so colors appear more vibrant.
Paint pens are great for adding detail to the rocks.
Sharpies – Regular Sharpie markers smear and change color when a sealer is applied so skip the sealer step. Other paint pens do not play nice with the oil in the Sharpie. So only use Sharpies with Sharpies. Apply several coats for solid coverage.
Sign your rocks on the back with a message, date or first name only.
Use a multi-surface or exterior paint. I found the Martha Stewart to give the best coverage.

Try the 11 tips to make rock painting easier from above and get started on your rock painting. Also don’t feel like you have to go out and purchase what I used. Try stuff you already have in your stash and if you love it then splurge on some of the supplies.

Detailed tips to make rock painting easier:

Now if you want to create more detailed rocks I suggest my very favorite paint pens ever. They are by Uni and called POSCA pens. I have only found them on Amazon. The links below are my affiliate links where I earn a commission if you make a purchase.

Paint marker tips to make rock painting easier:

A little about POSCA Pens – I cannot say enough good stuff about them. They are a little pricey but well worth it in my opinion. I use them in all my mixed medium work. Unlike a normal paint pen they have a specially designed nib that keeps the extra fine point an actual fine point. If you don’t buy the big variety pack do yourself a favor and purchase the white. It is the only white paint pen that I have ever used until it was empty. Normally they dry up before I can use up all the paint. This is a great starter pack of paint marker colors and it includes black and white. If you can fit them into your budget at least try the white Uni-posca 3 pack now if you really want to splurge and I did, get the 21 piece Uni-posca paint marker set. I am pretty cheap when it comes to my supplies and I like to get the best bang for my buck. If you purchase the POSCA pens I hope you love them as much as I do.

The Elmer’s Painters work really well too. The medium tip is nice, juicy and goes on smoothly. It is easy to paint a rock base with one coat.

A little about paint marker nib size –

The extra fine nibs in the paint marker allow you to make very thin lines and tiny dots of detail. You can make the size a little thicker by going slower and allowing more paint to flow out of the tip.

A fine nib in the paint pen is a nice balance between extra fine and medium. If you go light enough you can almost get the same small detail as with an extra-fine.

Medium nibs in the paint markers are good for base coat, bold lettering and thicker design.

Painting tips to make rock painting easier.

If you want to use paint to cover and design the rocks use an exterior, outdoor or a mult-surface paint. Martha Stewart Multi surface worked best for me. They are the priciest but worked better. I’d pick them up on sale at a big box store or with a coupon, but if you are shopping for convenience go for the multi-pack linked below.

When working with paint it is a good idea to have a variety of paint brush sizes. Pick up a multi-pack of brushes. This is not fine art (yours might be – mine are not) so you do not have to purchase expensive brushes.

Stencil tips to make rock painting easier.

I also tried stencils on the painted rocks. Unless you have super smooth rocks it is not the easiest thing to do. If you do try stencils make sure you us a stencil adhesive. Also make sure the paint is completely dry or it will remove the paint from the rock surface. Yes, speaking from experience again. Guess I make all the mistakes so you don’t have to. When working with tiny stencils use the tiniest stencil brush you can find and apply the paint in light layers. You get the best results with more light layers than one thick layer that will most likely blob up and seep under the stencil.

My tips to make rock painting easier shopping list:

I hope you have learned a little something from the 11 tips to make rock painting easier. If you would like to see samples of rock designs check out these posts listed below. There are a lot of great ideas out there and plenty of step by step tutorials. So gather up your rocks and a few supplies and have a painted rock party.

Motivational painted rock paper weights.

Fun and easy painted rock ideas

Easy rock painting idea for all ages

How to paint a narwhal – because who does not love the unicorns of the sea?

Marble Paint finish on rocks

Father’s Day Painted rocks

Decorative Garden Stones

Patriotic painted rocks

Painted rocks for Halloween

Painted rock magnets

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