Tomorrow my family and i are going to be painting rocks, and note we are VERY competitive people, i feel like i am definitely going to have the best rock. Thank you for giving me a head start Kristin!!!
Hi Kristin,I'm having a bit of a problem finding good pebbles,I've looked in the dry river beds here in Spain,but think I need to get to the beaches! However the ones I have found,I've really enjoyed painting. Now doing friends Initials,and surrounding it with dots! It's very effective if you use a gold or silver paint for the initials. You have opened up a new world of creativity for me,and I thank you.
Lovely, and well produced. Looking forward to viewing more of your tutorials. 🌼 Lots of thanks from Huntington, WV. We're right on the Ohio River, so there's access to lots of great rocks!
Thank you so very much for this one. I had figured my only choice for rocks would be plaster of paris moulded rocks. They are beautiful, good choices, but my heart was set on also doing natural rocks. I had no idea I could buy a small bag of rocks from a rock store! I know I cant do that at the big box stores - and I was very frustrated. I had to stop myself from just picking up a rock in some landscaped area someplace. I could not imagine giving up being what I felt was honest for a rock!! Now I know I do have options, and you have not just skill and talent, but a kind heart! THANK you!
Check out your local home improvement stores (Home Depot/Lowes etc) you can get bags of smooth river rock for a low cost. My local stores charge about $8 for a 20lb bag and they are good quality. Hope this helps.
Thank you, Michelle Epstein! My hope is that I can share the process as I'm learning from my own mistakes, and troubleshooting, so that others can move forward in their exploration of this type of art. Blessings!
Beautiful! I especially love your use of certain terms to describe the processes- "Walking the dots" is now in my mandala vocabulary. I too was unable to find any good rocks to paint, but instead of going to a rock place as you did, I tried the local Lowes and Home Depot. Neither had any stones. I realized that glass slugs sometimes came in really large sizes, and found so the size of fifty cent pieces. I have been painting on them, using both acrylic paints and clear shades of Gallery glass. They make nice necklaces. I wish I could show you a photo of them!
Me too! One of the ladies who came to my mandala painting class is now making her own mandala ornaments our of glass. She has small, beveled glass panes that she dots with transparent acrylic and they are beautiful!
I just added a few photos to my flickr page, under the name JoAnn Abbott. I would link to it, but RU-vid doesn't like that :). I didn't realize how few finished pictures I had of them, I need to get out my camera and update the process
I think I found your Flickr page and I saw a few beautiful portraits and a great Tea Party poster ;) but I didn't see any of your art work. I may be doing something wrong...never used Flickr before.
Bother! I wish youtube would let me link to my page! I did look under my photos on my facebook page and saw that I had posted a bunch of them on August 21 2016, maybe you can see them there. There are some good ones looking through the glass piece and seeing the gallery glass effects, as well as my flat backed gem mandala box. Mostly my flickr page has costumes and grandchildren and some old political pics from the start of the tea party in 2009. I was the main organizer of the Washington DC tea party, April 15 2009. I am not doing as much with politics just now though. .
I love watching you paint these rocks but could you have one video to show what tools you use and how to use them. I have subscribed to your site and will be enjoying watching all of these.
Kathy, I made a video just for you today! Tutorial #7 shows the tools I use, and where to get them, and how to use them. If you have any questions, let me know. Blessings!
Thank you so much for sharing! I'm glad I found you; this is the first of your videos I've seen. I really want to collect rocks to paint. Big Thumbs Up! I will be subscribing 😊 I'm off to watch your video, it looked like advise for beginners, on needed supplies and tips and stuff 😊
I tried my 2nd mandala rock and it wasn't successful it didn't turn out great I used nail dotting tools I need to buy the the actual dotting tool for the rocks. Your videos are my absolute favorite helps me out a lot!
Very helpful thank you for sharing your knowledge. I would love it if you could share some more videos on mixing paints. Also how do you like to finish your products if they’re on different surfaces what would you recommend? If you already posted this video and I missed it please excuse me and maybe suggest where I can find it. Thank you very much fabulous work you are such an inspiration.
Thank you Kristin for sharing this beautiful work... I just started to paint mandalas in dots and you really help me with your videos. Congrats!! 💋💋 Happy new year from Brazil!!!
Good Morning Kristen ! I am Brazilian, and I would like to know which paints you use in the stone and can expose yourself to the time without varnish? Congratulations on the gift God gave you. A hug! Translated into Google Translator
These are craft paints like FolkArt, Americana and Martha Stewart. I almost always use Martha Stewart black satin to paint the base layer on the rocks because it is a thick, smooth paint. Then, to dot, I mix up some of the cheaper craft paints with the more expensive artist quality paints from Golden Fluid acrylics, which you can buy on amazon. That gives great color. Then after they have dried overnight, I spray them with a clear acrylic finish, like Rustoleum clear satin. Though not necessary to keep the paint "on the rock" is does help prevent fading in UV light.
I'm so intrigued by this, I attempted to do one yesterday, on a flat canvas to begin, I purchased dowels, in various sizes, trimmed them to a manageable size and began; I started with a black circle, then emulated one of your patterns, my dots were very different in size, I suppose practice makes perfect, but I'm wondering, what type paint is best, and do you mix your paint with a medium? I found that I also got too confused with where my dots went-- I think I began with too difficult a pattern for my first time, it made me want to stop, but I didn't. I kept going, it wasn't perfect by any means, but it was a start. I think these are so beautiful, and the meaning behind the mandala itself is so mystical and soothing. I am definitely going to keep going, if you could answer my paint question and give me a few tips I'd appreciate it. I've watched all of your videos and find you very inspirational. Thank you, your creations are magnificent. Lori
Obscenely BEAUTIFUL! Watching and listening to you is very soothing. I was wanting to know what tool you used for the bigger dots? Do you only use Acrylics? Thank you for sharing...🌺
Kristin, thank you for taking the time to make these videos. Such beautiful, colorful, cheerful results! I just love them! I have some manicure dotting tools to use for "walking the dots", but nothing that makes the larger (perfectly round) dots. Is there a tool you recommend? I've tried pencil erasers, the butt end of a paintbrush, etc but I don't get that beautiful, perfect circle like you do. Any guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. :) Hugs from Colorado. Tiffany
Hi Kristin!! I love all your videos, esp. your video with your dogs peeping through the window in the background:) Your videos are insightful, natural, and my favorite part relatable. I have watched all of your videos and tried most of your designs, thank you! My question is about paint bumps. I'm not sure if I am using the correct water to paint ratio and possibly pushing down on the dowel too hard but it creates ripples in the paint and dries very bumpy, unlike your videos with the center lump in the center ,mine looks more like ruffles chips! I don't have this issue with smaller circles with the nail stylus just my larger wooden dowel for bigger circles. Any recommendations? Thank you for all your help!
Thank you so much for watching and giving this painting technique a try. I am still learning, so I really appreciate the feedback on my tutorials. The paint needs to be about the thickness of cake batter, maybe just a smidge less dense. I fins that Americana brand acrylics have good texture and color, but you really don't know how thick they are until you purchase it and squirt the bottle. I do add water and mix well with a small paintbrush to get the right consistency, and I always put a small piece of plastic wrap over the wells in my paint palette to keep the colors from forming a "skin" while I work. The best paints I've used thus far are Golden Fluid acrylics, but they are expensive, artist quality paints. The results, however, are unsurpassed in color intensity. They also pool out perfectly and form perfect bumps as they dry without any pointy peaks or ruffly edges. You can get a set of 8 small bottles on Amazon for about $24.00.
Hi Kristin, Thank you so much for your response! My Americana sample set came today from amazon. Excited to test them out. Your tips have been so helpful! I appreciate the time you take to respond back to your followers. Look forward to seeing more of your journey. Peace and love to you and your family.
Dear Kristin, I love your rocks they are so beautiful and your art is inspirational. I have tried painting some myself but am struggling with the consistency of the paint, spacing and correcting errors. Have you any tips that may help? kind regards
Hi Karen! Every bottle of paint is unique, even if you get the same brand and finish and color. I suspect it may have something to do with shelf life, and how often certain colors are actually bought. In my experience, Americana brand satin acrylic is the most consistent, but occasionally needs a little water mixed in to make it more like cake batter. Martha Stewart paints are thicker, but they work great for putting dots on top of dots if you want to the mandala to have a more "quilted" look after the paint has dried. Golden Fluid acrylics (avalyaibe on Amazon) are more expensive and thinner, but have VERY intense color, and are great to mix together with less expensive craft paints. I correct my errors using a point Q-tip like this www.amazon.com/Q-tips-Cotton-Swabs-Precision-Tips/dp/B005XIM6J2?th=1. to lift up paint off a rock or canvas, then paint over the spot with black, and try again. Sometimes, I end up scrubbing an entire rock and starting over because I either didn't like the color combination, or the symmetry was off. And spacing/symmetry just takes practice. In my Christmas design tutorial, I show how to draw guidelines on a 6x6 canvas, and how those give you a visual grid for spacing. Once you've used penciled lines again and again, you can kind of "see" them in your mind and dot without a grid. Hope this helps!
