Painted Inspiration Rocks

The 70's are officially back and rock painting is at an all time high!  It's time to grab some smooth stones (not from your neighbors yard) and go to town with some American Acrylic paints.  These are my absolute favorite paints for rock painting, btw.  Great colors and coverage.  I know I sound like a commercial, but it's true.  I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction, I promise!  These stones are inspired by vintage Mexican pottery and I can't wait to leave them in the park for people to find.

Remember to use lots of color, find inspiration everywhere and always

Make Your Mark!

Watch how to paint flowers here!

Here's another technique for you!

STUFF I USED

Americana Acrylics (the best for rock painting!)

Smooth river stones

DecoArt DuraClear Gloss Varnish

 HERE'S HOW

1. & 2.  Paint a base color on your stones (front and back)

3.  Paint 1/2" flower centers in different colors

4. & 5. Using a round brush paint petals around the centers in different colors

6.  Paint a smaller dot in a different color inside of the original centers

7.  Paint over the petals in another contrasting color around each flower

*I used red with blue, green with blue, orange with yellow

8.  Add small dots to the center of each flower by dipping and dotting the wood end of your brush

9. & 10. Paint leaves with two different greens just like you painted the flower petals

11.  Paint a message on the back of the rock

12.  Coat with 2 coats of DuraClear Gloss Varnish and let dry

Let's Make Art!

I wanted something a bit more whimsical for my kitchen so I decided to give the new DecoArt Premium Acrylics a go and paint something bright and happy.  Gotta be honest here, I'm not really a painter and when I sit down at a canvas, I'll use any paint that's within my reach.  We're talking house paint, outdoor paint, multi-surface.....whatever is in reach that has the color I want.  A few weeks ago DecoArt sent me their new line of tube acrylics and WOW are they lovely to work with.  The colors are just beautiful, too.  This painting was pretty easy and you could easily change the colors to match your decor.  Remember to sit down and get creative every once in a while, get your Bob Ross on and 

always Make Your Mark!

Why not hang art on the fence?

Watch how I painted it here!

 STUFF I USED

Canvas

Americana Premium Acrylics

Allure Dimension Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Paintbrushes

Template

 Print and use to sketch out the design

HERE'S HOW

1.  Using the template, sketch out the design on your canvas

2. Paint the lower half of the canvas in Pyrrole Red

3.  Paint alternating stripes in a mixture of Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

4.  Paint the rest of the stripes in a mixture of Cobalt Teal Hue and Titanium White

5. Paint several of the flowers with a mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and the outer edges with the pure Quinacridone Magenta and blend where they meet

6.  Paint the centers of the rest of the flowers with Vermilion Hue mixed with Titanium White

7. Paint the outer edges with Hansa Yellow Light

8. Blend the orange and yellow flowers with more Vermilion Hue

9.  Add more white to the mixture of Quinacridone Magenta and Titanium White and lighten the centers of the pink flowers

10.  Paint the leaves with Green Gold and Yellow Green Light and Titanium White

11.  Paint the stripes on the vase with Carbon Black

12.  Outline the flowers, leaves, stripes and vase in Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in Gloss Black

Nothing like an afternoon painting flowers in the back yard!

Erin Fitzhugh Gregory has Flower Power!

Thought you might like to know a little about one of my favorite artists.  I love everything about her work.  The freedom, the fearless use of color and, most importantly, the happiness.  Erin Fitzhugh Gregory is originally from Alabama and has lived with her husband and two daughters in Columbus, Georgia since 2002.  Erin paints in acrylic (and occasionally in oil) almost daily in her home studio.  She knew from an early age that she would be an artist when she grew up.  Her best advice for aspiring artists is to simply "Paint often and to not fear mistakes! Mistakes in painting, especially in oils & acrylics, can often be cultivated into something beautiful in the end. 

Discipline and perseverance are key!"  I couldn't agree more.

I would love to be surrounded by 100 of these paintings!

Let's Make Art 2! Vintage Flowers

My original Let's Make Art post was well received so I decided to do a Let's Make Art 2 post featuring a simple technique for painting vintage looking flowers.  These were seriously easy, too friends!  Gotta say, I LOVE painting and sharing my process with all of you.  Once you know how something is done you can change it up and make your own version.  Change the colors to match your decor and go nuts. My favorite part of this painting is adding the dimensional paint at the end.  It's then that everything just comes together.

Enjoy! xoxox, Mark   

My new addition!

But I'm loving this version, too!

Watch the fun video tutorial here!

Thought it might be fun on my dresser

This version has a gold background instead of black.  LOVE the gold, too!

Couldn't decide between a gold or black background so I painted both

Stuff You'll Need

Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint (puff paint)

Americana Acrylic Paints in

Ebony Lamp Black

Snow Titanium White

Holly Green

Sunny Day Yellow

Carousel Pink

Paintbrushes

Canvas

 Paint the entire canvas black or gold

Paint circle and flower shapes in white

Paint leaves in white

Loosely fill in the round shapes with large strokes

*leave some white showing around the edges

Loosely fill in the flower shapes

*also leaving some white showing

Fill in the leaves with green

When dry, sketch around the shapes with Allure in black