When I was a kid, on the farm, we had an old Dodge Power Wagon. My dad would send my brother, sister and I out to the field to pick rocks. Where we lived rocks, the size of your fist covered the top of the ground. There was no end to how deep those rocks went under the surface, they went on and on forever.  Our job was to fill the box of the power wagon with rocks, then take it to the rock piles at the edge of the field and throw them out.  When empty, go fill it up again.  We spent days doing that. I hated it. Most boring job in the world, right?

Now I'm painting on rocks. My husband and I get in the truck, head out to a field and pick rocks for hours, lol! We pick and hunt for rocks that are just right, we don't have to pick up every single rock, I guess that's why it's more fun.  We can come home with a pickup load of rocks and have the greatest day ever. Somehow that tickles my funny bone. I can laugh right out loud when I think of being a kid and hating those rocks so much.

In the photo above, you'll see a rock painted a neutral grey, with the beginnings of a bull elk drawn there.  First I found the angle of the slant of his head, then began to draw the shape of his body and the antlers.

Now I'm finding his facial features, and laying down a basic color on his body.

Just adding and correcting his shape here.

Now I added in some background color.  This elk was on a sagebrush flat, so he was surrounded by that soft green color of sage.

Here are a few more details, and placing darks next to lights, and vice versa.  Just to emphasize the elk from his background.

Adding in some sagebrush details and background work.

And here it is finished.  It was so nice, the way his antlers wrapped around the edges of the rock, he just fit! If you've ever spent time with elk during the rut, you can easily "hear" the sound of that bugle coming from his mouth! It's the wildest, free-est sound in the world.  I love it. I can't get enough of watching the elk, and the rut is coming upon us quickly! I can't wait.

If you want to see more bugling elk, visit our store, where you can find rustic wildlife decor for your home!

Thank you for coming by my blog, I hope you enjoyed seeing this bull elk come to life in a painting on a rock! :)