Rock Painting for Beginners: A Complete Guide to Techniques and Supplies with 50 Original Designs to Inspire You by Christine Rechl

Reviewed by Jeanne

Remember when everyone was painting rocks and leaving them in public spaces for others to find?  While the craze may have slowed down, it was still a fun thing to do, and a small rock is nowhere as intimidating to many folks as a big white canvas.  I even painted a few in a group project. While I wasn’t satisfied with the finished product, I did enjoy the painting itself and even went out and bought a bucket of rocks and some paint to do some at home.

Needless to say, that didn’t happen, but every time I see that bucket of rocks, I think I should really do something about them.  I thought this book might just jump start the process.

Author Rechl is all for fun, but she also sees rock painting as a serious business- though not in the monetary sense, as she is in favor of giving the rocks as personal gifts.  She discusses the best place to find rocks (not at the rock yard where I got mine) and how to evaluate the ones you find.  She likes the process of finding rocks and being inspired by them, seeing the potential in their size, texture, and shape.  She suggests using sandpaper if the rock has some rough patches and putting down an undercoat.  

Nearly a third of the book is devoted to selecting the right paints and tools, and offering tips on using the various kinds.  There are acrylic paints, acrylic inks, glass paints, color blockers and so on, not to mention brushes, pens, and even special dotting tools. It could be a bit overwhelming but Rechl has wonderful photographs to illustrate each concept.  Also, while discussing each part, she shows a technique using the specific material or tool. 

She points out things such as if you want to put the stones outside, be sure and use waterproof paint/ink—and that not all that claim to be waterproof really are.  Non-toxic is something else to keep in mind no matter where you plan to leave your rocks. 

Finally, there are step by step instructions on creating different types of designs, whether you’re doing abstract designs, monster faces, comments, or cute animals.  There are also templates for those among us ungifted in drawing our own figures.

What I liked most was seeing some pretty abstract designs, spirals, dots, stripes, etc. that would be easy to do and yet looked very nice indeed. 

Now if all that paint I bought hasn’t dried up yet, I’ll be set!