[Nancy-ID]

Hi everyone,

I have come to the painting stage on my Elk. Finally, the moving to ID put it on hold for a month. Anyway, I have carved it as all one piece including the base. I carved the base to look as though it is 'rock". I would like it to sort of resemble marble. Any tips/ideas on that? I will post pictures of him later this morning. he has been textured and the antlers are done but not attached.

[squbrigg]

Why not use a piece of marble, or better still, (local) granite, for the base? There are all kinds of granite quarries around the country and it looks great polished up. How big a piece do you need? I know a guy that supplies granite for table/desk/counter tops, and monuments , etc.

Bob

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

manmade counter top material would also work and you can work it with woodworking tools....as for painting it to look like marble, there is a faux painting technique if when done right, looks just like marble......do a google search of faux marble painting.

[Hugh]

Nancy, I have painted wood to look like granite, paint the colours, do your shading and highlights, and splatter paint with a stiff brush. Use a darker shade to splatter in the shaded areas, and lighter on the highlited areas. Marble should be able to be painted in much the same way. The wood should be well sealed, and well sanded before starting to paint. Seal and sand, seal and sand, making the surface hard. Then get a piece or photo of marble, paint the base colours, put in the shading and highlights, add the streaks using different shades of paint for different streaks, just play with the painting, make sure its not mechanical. One thing about doing this, if you don't like the effect, do it again, more paint won't hurt. Hope this helps

[Kenny_S]

Use a feather from Hobby lobby or any craft store, to make the streaks. The hardest part is in making the base smooth with the layers of paint.
Hugh's suggestion will work fine and Dave's Flaux technique also.
Using real marble or granit would make the piece heavy but then, There isn't a problem there either.

[AlArchie]

I've had good luck painting small rocks for fish habitat dispaly using this technique.

After making sure your "rock" is thouroghly sealed, prime with whatever base color you will be using. I used either a light gray, white, or a pale pink. Gray or white for the quartzite type rocks and light pink for feldspar or some granites. After these are dry, apply a very thin wash of your contrasting "swirls". This can be done with a soft watercolor teardrop shaped brush, or maybe as Kenny suggested, a feather. I've never tried the feather. You can then apply any granular structure you want with either the spatter method mentioned or by very careful application of contrasting colors with a fine tipped brush.

Mineral intrusions can be simulated by the careful application of masking tape and direct brushing of the intruding color.

I'll see if I can find some pics of the results.

Al

[AlArchie]

Found a picture of some carved and painted "rocks". the ones mounted on the base are the fakes, the ones on the left are the ones I used as reference.

Al

[decoycarve]

Anna does it all the time. She uses sponges for the stippling and a liner brush for the line work. It is popular on some of her painted funiture pieces. Find any craft book on Fuax finishes. I think Home depot has handouts on how to do it. She likes this finish so much she did our kitchen wall in it. The border and the leaves are all painted.
Goody

[Claude]

Michael's craft store sells spray paint that will duplicate several different kinds of rocks.

Claude