What a cleaver idea, painting on rocks! We have all seen cute little rock animals, or beautiful woks of art on boulders. The question is, how can we all learn the techniques needed to paint on rocks?

First you should base-coat or under-paint the rock. Base-coat is simply applying white or any color to the bare clean rock. This is done for a couple of reasons. The base serves as the canvas. The base paint will adhere to the tiny cracks and crevices in the rock and make your actually painting surface more workable. The second reason is so that you have a clean bright surface and the colors will be more vibrant and vivid.

Now the art needs a plan. You should work out a design for the rock. Draw or sketch in the basic shape of the design. You should think of this exactly how you would approach art on paper or a canvas. If the undercoat is a dark color, you can sketch with a white pencil.

Here are some fun ideas for pet rocks:

• Glue other tiny rocks for feet, ears, noses and heads to each other for rock critters.
• Glue some felt to the base, if the rock is to be on display in a home. People will appreciate that the art will not scratch the desk or table.
• Try gluing some of those puffy, wiggle eyes for a fun look.
• Glue a pom-pom puff on for a tail.

When you are finished with the painting and before adding unpainted accents, make sure that you use a clear varnish to spray coat the finished piece. This is especially important if the rock is an outside work of art.