Give your love bugs Valentine’s day gifts they will cherish.

Valentine's Day Rock Painting Fun

Valentine Love Bugs Project

By Ernestina Gallina

Could anyone resist to these funny lovebugs? They make a beautiful gift and are a statement of love. Choose the model and color combination you wish, photos will guide you every step of the way, happy rock painting!

What you'll need for this project:

• plump round rock
• acrylic colors
• brushes

Project instructions:

Step 1

Choose smooth rocks that through the years have been gently smoothed and molded into the shape of a small ball.

Step 2

Basecoat your rock with white paint.

Use a pencil to sketch the bug features onto the top and bottom of your rock. Refer to the layout:

With the tip of your liner dipped in black paint outline the bug's main features.

Step 3

Paint the two wings with the color of your choice. I mixed yellow and red to get a vibrant orange tone. Now choose a lighter shade to fill in the round face. I added a small amount of white to my orange to make it softer.

Step 4

Use a liner and black paint to outline the face's outer edge, the mouth line, the eye circles, the line between the wings. Paint a black oval pupil inside each eye.

Paint small black dots on the wings.

Paint the bug's black body on the bottom of the rock.

Step 5

Paint two antennas with a little heart on their tips. Fill in the hearts with bright red paint.

More ideas

Here is a second pattern with little variations. The dots on the wings have been replaced by heart shapes and the antennas are curled up.

© Ernestina Gallina, 2008. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Ernestina Gallina
Ernestina Gallina is a self-taught artist living in Italy. She started rock painting as a hobby in 1998. Since then she has become more and more involved with this art form. Ernestina’s artwork has been exhibited within Italy and is currently in various private collections. She is a rock-painting teacher, her website www.pietrevive.it features an art gallery and several how-to rock painting tutorials.

1/25/08