 1 This album contains step by step directions how to paint strawberry rocks. Have fun!!
PS The original idea to paint rocks as strawberries is not my own...I would like to give credit to the designer, but I do not know who it was. Thank you!
(click on thumbnails to enlarge)
|  2 Collect some strawberry shaped stones. Wash well with soap and water and let dry overnight. When it\'s time to paint, I like to work on about a dozen at a time so that the paint on the first one is dry by the time I\'m finished that particular step on the 12th. one. I use acrylics.
|  3 Step 1 of painting: To achieve a bright red result, undercoat stone with white.Paint half your stone at a time,let dry, turn over and paint other half.One coat of white is sufficient. The white undercoat makes the red "pop out".
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 4 Basecoat with any red of your choice, letting the first side dry before continuing to the other side. You will probably need two coats of red. In these examples I used Delta Ceramcoat Fire Red.
|  5 Look at your "berry" and decide which end would be best suited for the hull. One end is usually less pointed and that is where the hull would go. With Hauser Medium Green, or any medium green of your choice, base in the hull, making 6 or 7 pointed leaves that come about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way down the strawberry. Try not to make your hull so small that you can\'t see it from a side view.
|  6 With Hauser Dark Green, or any dark green, outline each hull leaf, put in a central vein on each, and add a circle at the top centre.
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 7 With Hauser Light Green, or any light green, randomly add highlights here and there. No need to wash out your brush between greens..mixing them is more interesting.
|  8 With Black, using a liner brush,randomly add the little pockets where the seeds grow. Avoid the temptation to add too many. Also, keep them small so they don\'t end up looking like watermelon seeds. lol
|  9 Again, using a liner brush, place a dot of off white in each little pocket to represent the seed. I used Ceramcoat Light Ivory.
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 10 The final step is to give your berry 2 or 3 coats of varnish..either in spray form or with a wipe-on product called Final Coat. The varnish protects the paint from chipping,gives depth to the colour,and it keeps the paint from sticking and lifting when you pile the berries in a basket. (When I used a brush on varnish I found the berries would stick together when stacked. Perhaps it was just the brand I was using,so you may have success with a different brand.)
|  11 Display your berries in a decorative container. For example,this is a recycled tuna can....just the right size for displaying your painted strawberry rocks!
|  12 Another way of displaying, or as a gift, would be to place the berries in a basket fancied up with a bow and a little white doily for contrast. Very pretty!
To see other examples of my rock painting visit my website at: www.leewismer.com
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