Here are a couple of easy to follow techniques on how to paint a bee on a rock
It has been a little overcast and rainy this past week. Where I live, we normally get a lot of rain in April and into May, but the April rain held off and now May is just downright soggy. So, in order to entertain me and my kids we broke out the rocks and paints and set to work on a new project. We decided to paint bumble bees on rocks.
Bumblebees can be pretty simple. The technique is a lot like the ladybug rock that I wrote about in the previous post. I am going to show you how to paint an entire rock to resemble a bee. Also, I will show drawing a bee picture and then coloring that in on a rock. Let’s start with the whole rock bee.
Bumble bees can be pretty simple. The technique is a lot like the ladybug rock that I wrote about in the previous post.
First, assemble your rock painting supplies:
- Rocks, look for rocks that are oval in shape and fairly smooth
- Paintbrushes (I used a medium width flat end brush for the large surfaces and a fine point rounded-end brush for the finer areas)
- Acrylic paint (yellow, black and white) I used this bright yellow acrylic paint from Apple Barrel for the body of the bee
- Paint markers (black and white)
- Paper plate and paper towels
- Pencil
- Cup of water (to rinse brushes between colors, be sure brushes dry completely before using them again)
- Spray acrylic sealer
Apple Barrel Matte Finish Bright Yellow Acrylic Craft Paint
Step One – Draw the Head
Now take your pencil and you are going to draw a line for the head of the bee. Go about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down the body and draw a half moon shape.
Step Two – Paint the Bee Body
I used my larger brush to paint the larger portion of the rock yellow. This will be the body of the bee. If you have a darker color rock, you may need to put down a coat of white paint to help with paint coverage. I had to paint a few coats of yellow over the white to get the coverage I wanted. Allow the paint to dry between layers. I only painted the top of my bee, but you could always go all the way around the rock with yellow if you preferred.
Step Three – Paint Stripes on the Bee Body
Then, I painted the stripes on the body of the bee. You can do this in many different ways. First, you can use a paint marker to draw the stripes and then color them in. Or you can use your fine tipped brush to paint the stripes with black acrylic paint. One coat of black paint for the stripes should be great since you are going over the yellow. A permanent marker would also work well to draw the stripes.
While you have the black paint out, let’s color in the head portion and the underneath of the bee. Use the larger brush to fill in the small portion on the front of the rock that you designated as the head. When this is dry, do a second coat if you need to. Then, flip the rock over and do one or two coats of black for the underside of the bee.
Once this is all dry, you are ready for the detail work. In this case that would be the eyes, wings, and antennae. Starting with the eyes, paint two white circles in the head space of the bee. Pay special attention to the spacing and keeping them equal in size. I like to draw circles using simple parenthesis. Draw the left side of your parenthesis, close with the right side, and fill in. You can use either a white paint marker or white paint and your fine tipped brush. The great part about rock painting is it is very forgiving. If you make a mistake, just let the paint dry and go over the head with some more black. Then try again.
Step Four – Detail Work and Seal your Bee Rock
We’re getting close to finishing your bee painted rock. For the wings, draw two white oval shapes on the back of the bee with your fine-tipped brush or paint marker. Then, finish with two thin lines for the antennae. The wings and antennae are totally optional. Once all your paint is dry it is time to seal. I used spray Modpodge sealer on these rocks. Follow the directions on the can for drying time. I used the spray sealer outside to avoid fumes. I placed my rocks in an old box that I was going to throw away. This way I can contain the mess and not get the sealer everywhere.
Painting the Bee Figure on your Rock
I also wanted to show you painting a bee figure. I started with a larger rock with a smooth surface area. I decided to paint the face of the rock a light blue to make it look like the sky. I used Apple Barrel colors acrylic paint in cloudless. Using the larger brush, try to make sure your brush strokes are going the same direction for this kind of coverage. I put down 2 coats of the blue paint.
When the blue paint was dry, I drew my bee figure on the rock with a pencil. Bees are simple to draw using basic shapes. Practice on paper first. I drew a small circle for the head, thin lopsided hearts for the wings, a Christmas ornament shape for the body, and thin curved lines for antennae. I also drew stripes through the body shape.
Pens Used for Drawing
My next step was to trace by bee outline with black. I used a ultra fine point sharpie on this rock. I also used sharpie marker for the head and the yellow and black stripes. I did not have a white sharpie, so I used a white paint marker to fill in the wings. You could also use some black acrylic paint with a fine tipped brush or a black paint marker for the outlining. Allow to dry completely before moving on.
The finished painted bee rock looked like this. I added dashed lines with a black sharpie to make the bee look like he is flying. I also added the saying “bee happy” on the side of the rock. I wrote it out in pencil and then went over it with a purple sharpie.
I sealed the rock with liquid Modpodge and a brush. The spray Modpodge is a little harsh on the sharpie marker and will make it run.
Bee Painted Rock – Conclusion
As you can see, these bee painting projects are fast, fun, and easy. I really love the look of these bees in my garden. They also make great gifts. Here are a few links to other rock bee painting posts I think are great: Alleluia Rocks – Painted Bee and Living Life as Moms – Painted Bees.
Happy painting!
