How to Make Galaxy Painted Rocks
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If you If don’t already know I LOVE painting rocks. I post my painted rocks all the time on my Instagram page. I’ve been doodling and painting on stones for years, and I used to sell my rocks on Etsy. But now my favorite thing to do is share rock painting tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years to others. I think you’re going to love this fun painted rock idea.
Lately, I’ve been obsessing over pretty galaxy art, and I thought it would be fun to take that same concept and apply it to painted stones. I have to say that although it may look complicated, this is one of the easier rock painting DIYs I’ve tried. You don’t have to be super artistic to achieve a beautiful painted rock. You can make your own galaxy painted rocks with just a few simple steps and supplies.
HOW TO PAINT A GALAXY ROCK SUPPLIES (affiliate links are provided for your convenience):
- Rocks – I find my rocks outside but you can also find them at Home Depot or Lowe’s in the gardening section, at your local landscape store or you can even purchase rocks on Amazon here.
- Acrylic Paint – Some of my favorite acrylic paint brands are Folk Art Multi-Purpose Acrylic Paint and the Martha Stewart acrylic paints. The paint consistency in both brands thick, and the colors are bright. The is easier to apply than other acrylic brands I’ve tried.
- White Acrylic Ink (optional) – I LOVE this acrylic ink for creating stars. You can also create the stars using regular white acrylic paint but the ink is AMAZING…I promise!!
- Round Foam Brush or sponge – I found that using round foam brushes worked better than a sponge. It’s nice to have foam brushes of varying sizes especially if you are working with different sized rocks.
- Toothbrush
- Toothpicks (optional)
- Sealant – I seal most of my rocks using this spray sealant in matte or glossy. Another way to seal is to use a thin layer of mod podge in matte or glossy finish applied with a foam brush, however I don’t recommend mod podge if you are using paint pens or other markers or placing your rocks outside. Mod Podge works best only when using acrylic paint and keeping your rocks indoors.
HOW TO PAINT A GALAXY ROCK DIRECTIONS:
- Cover your entire rock with black acrylic paint or if you prefer just paint a black silhouette design. Let dry completely before the next step to prevent muddy colors.Â
- Using your foam brush, pick a color from your paint palette and lightly sponge it onto the rock. I chose a darker blue to begin with.Â
- Next choose a lighter version of your first color and sponge next to the darker color.
- Add a few other colors and keep sponging to help blend the colors but be sure to leave a few darker black areas. If you cover up to much of the black you can always go back and sponge more back in. Or maybe your galaxy is super colorful…there’s really no right or wrong way to paint your rock.Â
- Add stars by applying a small amount of white acrylic ink or regular white acrylic paint to a tooth brush. Keep the bristles pointed away from you (you want them facing the rock), and run you finger up the bristles, gently flicking the paint onto your rock.Â
- Once you have the amount of stars you like, you can add in large ones using a toothpick or small round paint brush. You can also add other fun details like a moon, planets or even constellations!Â
- Once your rocks are painted to your liking, seal them with a sealant option listed above under supplies.
Hope you’re as excited about these galaxy stones as I am. I’d love to see what you come up with. Feel free to post a picture on my Facebook page or tag me on Instagram.
Get My Book
Want more rock painting and decorating ideas? Pre-Order my latest book, The Rock Art Handbook on Amazon. It has over 30 different rock art tutorials featuring dot painting, marbling, embellishments, decoupaging and much more. In the book I go in-depth on different art supplies that you can use on rocks and provide a ton of tutorials to get your creativity flowing.
Check out my other painted rock DIY posts:
-Tips and Tools for Drawing on Rocks
-Four Creative Rock Painting Ideas and SuppliesÂ
Happy Crafting!
Sam
Thank you, these look like fun. Have to try them.
They really are so much fun!
I just love this idea can’t wait to try it
It’s so addicting! They are really fun to make.
Love the galaxy rocks, going to try them myself! Beautiful and unique!
Yay! So glad you are inspired.
Love. These! May I share your tutorial with my small local group? We hide rocks in the parks for kids (and adults) to find! Many of the gals are brand new to rock painting!
Absolutely share away! Love that your spreading happy rocks. 🙂
Are you part of any rock painting groups on FB? My local group (Vancouver Rocks! SW Washington) has almost 40,000 members and have been painting, hiding, finding, collecting and trading rocks for over a year now. You can search FB for a local group near you! Usually it’s just the city + rocks. I like your galaxy ones!
Wow…amazing how big your group is!! I have a local friend who runs a group and it’s amazing how much joy she spreads through the community! Keep rockin!!
Great idea!! Made my first one today and it turned out stunning even for me! lol I am artisticly challengrd!
I love that galaxy stones are for all artistic abilities. So glad you had fun!
Thanks so much! Do you have other tutorials that I can share (love the marbeling one.!!!)
As soon as I saw your instructions, I headed right to my craft room and made three of them. Everyone loved them, plan to make more and hand out during Planetarium Night at our local science center. Thanks so much!
Yay! Thanks for the feedback. So glad you found the tutorial helpful.
Here in South Lyon, Michigan we are starting a new face book for the younger people in our area. It was just brought up today and I think no matter what age a child would be able to make these beautiful rocks.
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve actually been receiving pictures the last few days of people who have tried this and the age range in large. Everyone is loving the process!
What did you use to mask out areas?
Thanks–lovely!
Hi Robyn – I actually just used a pencil to draw the outline than filled it in with paint. No masking involved. Because I used small foam brushes I was able to paint inside the design with no problems.
great idea and very pretty can’t wait to give this a go x
What about when you use the toothbrush to ‘splatter’ the stars? How do you keep all the splatters inside of the design?
Just don’t pull back the bristles too much and keep it close to the rock! You can also use a small paintbrush or toothpick to add more defined stars near the edge.
When you say you use ACRYLIC INK, what brand is it & where would I find it? I don’t believe I have ever come across it in craft stores. Or maybe it is just I don’t know what I’m looking for?
Hi Grace – The brand I usually use is Daler-Rowney F.W. You can find it online and usually at Michaels or Hobby Lobby also. I like it because it’s more liquid than regular paint. You can also use the color acrylic inks like watercolors if you add water to them. They really are awesome!
So Beautiful and Inspiring.
Can you please share the colors you used? Or at least what is the name of the darkest colors you used? I am very new to these things so when I shop for paint it all looks the same and I come home with the wrong ones. Thanks
Oh gosh, I have so much paint, I’m not sure which exact ones I used. You honestly can’t go wrong with picking colors for galaxy rocks. It’s fun to experiment too. I think the key is mixing the brighter colors in with the darker ones to help give it some pop.
I love the galaxy efect. But how do you get it in just the palm tree or the cactus for example
And not the rest of the rock ?
It’s actually quite easy but you need the little sponge brush I show and listed in the tutorial. They are small enough that you can turn them on their side and get inside the lines!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful Galaxy Rocks ‘how to’! Have painted for ages, guess flowers my ‘thing’! But on new painting site almost a year now-I’m a senior, even computers pretty new to me-amazed at variety & talent. Must try galaxy rocks, thanks again-lovely!
So glad you found some inspiration! Maybe you can make a galaxy flower!
I intend trying this for my garden. Thank you , thank you for sharing. It will be a good bonding family moment, the children and the hubby can try it too.
I wrote about my garden, this is the link
https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/103830571/posts/745
PS,
The kids shudder whenever we are roadtripping. I carry a little spade for little interesting plants to add to the garden. I often ask for clippings and people happily give them to me.
PPS
We collect stones and rocks as well and every piece has a story. Maybe young parents can consider doing this and add to their storybook.
I just found this a couple of hours ago on Pinterest, and I just HAD to give it a try! It was fun – thanks so much for sharing this.
Yay! Thanks for the lovely feedback.
There are so beautiful!! I definitely want To try this!! Thanks so much for your tutorial!!
So glad you found so inspiration!
FYI there is a Mod Podge for outdoor use…the green label one. These rocks are beautiful!