How to Paint Frogs on Rocks

eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

Things You'll Need

  • Bucket

  • Water

  • Soap

  • Scrub brush

  • Acrylic paints

  • Paintbrushes

  • Charcoal pencil

  • Pictures of frogs

Bring your flower bed to life with frogs painted on rocks.

Whether you are artistically talented, or just tapping into an unexplored facet of creativity, painting frogs on rocks offers a rewarding outlet for creative expression. The activity doesn't take a lot of supplies to complete the piece of art, and its many uses, from living room displays to garden decorations, provides the perfect opportunity to showcase your work. You don't need large rocks to paint a frog; small rocks will do. You also don't need an array of colorful paints, just a few shades of green, yellow, black and white will get the job done.

Advertisement

Step 1

Find the perfect rock for painting a frog. Go down by a creek bed or a riverbed and look for round stones that fit snugly in your hand when you close it. Frogs are not imposing (in most cases) so you don't want stones that are too large, but rocks that are too small will make your artwork appear insignificant, not to mention harder to paint if you are a beginner.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Clean your newly found stones by soaking them in soap and water, and then use your scrub brush to scrub them clean of all dirt, grime and dust. Leave the rocks to dry for one hour before painting.

Step 3

Start painting by apply a primer coat first. Using white paint, cover the entire rock and let it dry.

Advertisement

Step 4

Get a good picture of a frog if you don't have a good mental picture of one. You can locate pictures just about anywhere, including nature magazines, children''s books or online. You want a good picture of a frog, preferably from a perspective of someone looking down on the frog.

Advertisement

Step 5

Outline your frog on the rock using your charcoal pencil. Lightly sketch the shape of the frog to include the eyes, mouth, spots, the underbody and legs. Draw two lines from the center of the top of each eye, toward the back of the rock, as well. Do not make dark lines with the pencil, just lightly sketch to serve as a guide when painting. Make the legs showing the frog in a crouching position, getting ready to jump.

Advertisement

Step 6

Paint the body of the frog first by using three shades of green. Paint the spots a dark green. Paint the top between the two lines running from the middle of the eyes a yellow-green. Paint the rest of the body and legs a medium green. Go around the outline of the legs with a shade of dark green to make the legs stand out.

Advertisement

Step 7

Paint the underbelly of the frog a solid white. The underbelly should come up to just under the mouth line so that a little shows when looking down on the frog.

Step 8

Finish the frog by painting the mouth and eyes. Paint the mouth as a solid black line going around the front of the rock. Use black to outline the eyes and yellow to fill in the eyes. In the middle of the eye, paint a small black oval with a white triangle pointing downward from the top of the oval, ending at about the middle of the oval.

Tip

You can add a lily pad to set your frog on by selecting a round, thin, flat rock and painting it a solid dark green. Add a thin plus sign to divide the rock with your white paint. Set your frog in the middle of the rock.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

references & resources