Winter Rock Painting Ideas
I don’t know about you, but this time of year I am cold. In Oklahoma, we typically ride the roller coaster of weather from one extreme to the next. We certainly don’t get as cold as our northern neighbors, but 20 degrees one day and 80 degrees the next is not unheard of.
So far this year, we have not had much snow. Just one dusting. Unfortunately with our crazy weather patterns we usually end up with freezing rain. Not cold enough to snow, not warm enough to rain. Just right for ice. The ground, roads, and trees get covered in a nice layer of ice and cause havoc.
But winter does not have to be crazy. On those rare occasions when we actually get snow, it can be really fun. The kids in our neighborhood will build snowmen and have snowball fights. I love having my grandkids come over to make snow angels.
In this article, I’ll share with you three winter rock painting ideas: a Polar Bear painted rock, Snowman painted rock and a snow-covered tree painted rock.
Winter Rock Painting – Supply List
• Smooth, flat Rocks
• Acrylic paint pens, assorted colors and widths
• Acrylic sealer, spray or paint on
• Other supplies: table cloth, paper plate, pencil
Winter Rock Painting Ideas – Places to Find Inspiration
Winter can encompass many things; from snowmen to penguins, igloos and winter gear. The possibilities are endless. I am going to highlight three designs of my choosing, but I wanted to show you some other ideas too.
Sarah at Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls has a segment on painting winter rocks. She included a snowman, snowflake, mitten, penguin, and a snowy scene with pine trees. These designs are fun and easy for any age.
Winter Rock Painting Ideas – Frugal Fun For Boys and Girls (frugalfun4boys.com)
Marie at Simplemost created a painted rock snowman using three rocks. She stacked them up to look like the real thing.
Snowman Painted Rocks Craft Kids Winter Activity – Simplemost
DecoArt has an easy project for painting winter gear. They included a hat, scarf, and a mitten.
Getting Cozy for Winter Painted Rocks – Project by DecoArt
Sarah at Ruffles and Rainboots has a section on Christmas painted rocks. These include lots of ideas and inspiration, including a painted rock snow globe.
Christmas Rock Painting Ideas (rufflesandrainboots.com)
I also have a post that includes ideas for all the seasons and many other rock painting projects – 102 Rock Painting Ideas to Spark Your Creativity
Winter Rock Painting – Choosing & Priming Your Rocks
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 much of a flat surface. Purchasing rocks is also an option. You can find them at craft stores, home improvement stores, landscaping companies, or even order them online. The ones that I am using for this project were purchased at Hobby Lobby. I found them in the mosaics section.
The three rocks I chose were about 2 to 3 inches tall and had a flat surface. Two were porous and tan. The other was smoother and plain white. I put a primer coat of paint on each rock before starting with the design. A primer coat helps to fill in holes, it provides coverage when your rock is a darker color and will help the paint for your design adhere to the rock better.
Here is some more information on priming rocks if you would like to read further.
Winter Rock Painting Idea 1: Snowy Tree
For the other rocks in this project, I am going to recommend doing a sketch of your design before drawing on the rock. In this case, I am not going to do that. If you feel you need to practice drawing tree branches, please do so.
I used a true blue-colored paint marker to apply the primer coat to this rock. Originally, this rock was white, flat and very smooth. Not a lot of paint was required to apply the primer coat. Paint markers are perfect for this project. They dry quickly so I can easily move on to different areas of the project.
Then, I switched to a fine pointed brown paint marker to start on the tree. I worked my way up from the bottom, making the branches thinner as they went up the tree.
Next, I used a white paint marker to add the snowy ground.
I made dots and simple line stars to add the snow falling from the sky.
Finally, I went through with the white paint marker and added snow settling in the crevices of the tree.
Winter Rock Painting Idea 2: Snowman with Hat
For my snowman rock, I decided on a two-tier design with an offset winter hat. I did a sketch before applying to the rock.
I used a paint marker to prime the rock a turquoise blue. Using a pencil I sketched the snowman on the dried paint.
For the coloring, I used a white paint marker on the snow and the details of the hat.
Then, I added gray to the buttons and feet and used orange on the carrot nose.
The remainder of the hat was filled in with green.
Finally, I used a black paint marker for the outlining.
Winter Rock Painting Idea 3: Polar Bear
I did a sketch of the polar bear before starting on the rock. This bear has a scarf and is holding a heart.
I started on the rock by priming with a blue paint marker and sketching the polar bear in pencil once the paint was dry.
I colored in the body of the bear first using a white paint marker.
I filled in the heart with red.
Then, I added blue to the scarf and did the outlining with black.
Finally, I added some detail to the scarf and snow to the background, both using a white paint marker.
Winter Rock Painting – Sealing the Rocks
I decided to seal the winter rocks using a spray acrylic sealer from 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 rocks on a 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.
Winter Rock Painting – Top Take-Aways
- Seasonal rocks can go on display any time of year.
- Winter encompasses a lot of different things, what other things would you paint on a winter rock?
- Paint markers dry quickly and allow you to move to another color or another part of your project in no time.
Stay warm and paint!