My children and I decided to make a rock garden in our flower bed. This daisy rock painting project will be its first inhabitant.
Fall has officially hit my hometown. The leaves are falling quicker and quicker each day. They pile up in the yards of my neighborhood and become instant playgrounds for the children. My kids see fewer and fewer flowers when we go for our afternoon walk.
I am not a gardener. I have a hard time keeping plants alive, I have even killed bamboo (twice). Therefore, I do not have live plants. Most of what I have is plastic. I have a few succulents and a river birch that I take care of, but nothing in the way of flowers. We love admiring the flowers that more proficient gardeners have on display.
We have decided to make a rock flower bed in our garden. This simple daisy rock painting is the first that I am adding to the collection.
Supply List for my Daisy Painted Rock
• Smooth, flat Rock
• Acrylic paint, I used turquoise and white
• Paintbrushes, thin flat point brush, thin round-point brush
• Acrylic sealer, spray or paint on
• Paint markers, I used white, orange, and light green
• Other supplies: table cloth, paper plate, cup of water
Designing the Daisy for my Rock
I wanted to keep this first flower design simple and easy to replicate. I chose to paint a row of daisies. I did not make a sketch of this design, but I did practice some dot painting with my paint markers. Using the tip of the markers, I tried making some small dots on a piece of scrap paper. The dots would come to represent the center of the daisies and the petals.
Here are some great examples of daisy paintings on rocks.
I really liked this all-over daisy design from Crafts by Amanda. She also used different colors for the daisy petals to help them stand out.
https://craftsbyamanda.com/daisy-painted-rocks
Melissa at Empress of Dirt makes great 3-d images on rocks. She has created a daisy rock that looks just like a bunch of potted flowers.
https://empressofdirt.net/diy-painted-rocks/
Laura at Crazy Laura has a great example of a rock with a single bloom. She puts a lot of color and detail into her rocks.
https://www.crazylaura.com/best-flower-painted-rocks
Daisy Rock Painting – Choosing & Priming your Rock
Rocks are everywhere. But not all rocks are ideal for painting. You can go on a stroll through your neighborhood or park and pick up a few rocks. However, I have found that most of those can be too small or not have the flat surface needed for painting. Purchasing rocks is also an option. You can find them at craft stores, home improvement stores, landscaping companies, or even order them online.
I decided to use an oval-shaped stone with a flat surface. I want to put some brighter colors on the rock and I wanted them to pop out.
In addition, this rock had a slightly slick surface. I cleaned the rock with some dish soap and a sponge and let it dry. The slick surface remained after cleaning the rock, so I put a primer coat on the rock. You can prime a rock in several ways, I chose to put down a few layers of paint over the whole surface of the rock. First I put two coats of Folk Art acrylic paint in Vanilla. I then used a turquoise blue, making the background a sky color. This took two additional layers and the pictures show some of the progression. Make sure to allow the paint to dry completely between coats.
Here is some more great information about priming rocks for painting.
Daisy Rock Painting – Drawing and Painting the Daisy
Once the primer coats were dry, I began drawing the center of the daisies on the rock. I used an orange paint marker for this step. Make sure your paint marker is primed and ready to use. Shake it at least 20 times and press the tip of the marker on a piece of scrap paper to see that the paint is flowing. The width of the dot will depend on the width of the marker. I tried several dots on a paper plate before putting the marker on the rock. I placed the orange dots in a jagged row so the daisies would all have a different height.
Then, I began the petals of the flowers. Follow the same steps as the orange marker. Shake the marker at least 20 times and press the tip of the marker on some scrap paper so you can see that the paint is flowing. I practiced making dots on a paper plate until I was comfortable with their size. I encircled each orange center dot with at least five white petal dots.
Next, I painted the stems of the flowers and the grass. I used a light green paint marker for both of these steps. I made thin lines with the tip of the marker from each of the flowers. Then, I filled in the area at the bottom of the rock for the grass.
Sealing the Daisy Rock
I decided to seal the butterfly rock using a spray acrylic sealer made by ModPodge. I made sure to do this step outside. Spray sealer can give off some strong fumes and you don’t want to have that linger inside the house. I set the rock on some sort of protective surface so I didn’t get the sealer everywhere. Using a paper plate or plastic table cloth works perfectly for this step. I sprayed a light coat of sealer and let it dry. Be sure to follow the package instructions on your sealer.
Beginning of my Flower Garden
This daisy rock looks right at home in my new rock flower garden. My kids love admiring this rock and look forward to more flowers to help cheer us up through fall and winter.
Top Take-Aways from my Daisy Rock Painting
1. Just because you don’t have a green thumb doesn’t mean you can’t have a flower garden.
2. Rocks are a great way to brighten up any season, you can have spring year-round.
3. Practice making different shapes with your paint markers on a piece of scrap paper. You can easily recreate some dot art using a marker.
Happy painting!