God Save The King! And his kingdom! ~ * ~ Fun With Paints : ~ * ~ ~ * ~ Rock Out Lions! ~ * ~ "Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends than that good men should look on and do nothing." - John Stuart Mill

Lions on the prowl!

Let's use our artistic skills to raise awareness to save lions and other wildlife!

For tips on painting rocks, go to the Rock Out section of the Fun With Paints page. This page is for checking out the rocks I've painted, and I'll add images of the latest ones at the top. Except the group image above - that's the very first batch I did. ^_^ note: Sometimes I forget to take photos before I put them out, so there are others out there that aren't specifically shown here..

If you've donated to the Kevin Richardson Foundation, or his Sanctuary, and live local to me, I'd be happy to give you a lion-themed painted rock. (gstk83@catlover.com) You likely found one already and that's why you're here, but maybe there's a style you like better. ^_~

I don't do social media, but painting rocks is fun (I also use seashells) and it struck me, now, as a really fun way to spread awareness about wildlife conservation. So, here are some of my creations. I intend them for young people, so if you're an adult and find one, please leave it for a youngster or see that it gets to one! If you like, when you find one, you can post to fb #rockouterie. Many fb pages won't let visitors in without an account, but so far, this one lets me enjoy other people's fantastic creativity, so I've been visiting there and seen a few of mine posted there already. Pretty cool. Glad people are enjoying them. ^_^

Please, be respectful of private property and do not take painted rocks you see in someone's flowerbeds or decorating their porches. Also, sadly, some memorial rocks have been stolen from gravesites, so please be aware that painted rocks in cemeteries might have been placed as a memorial and shouldn't be taken from tombstones or gravesites. - If you're going to place a painted rock at a gravesite as a memorial, please mark the back that it is a memorial and not to be taken as part of the hide and find rock fun (if you're using one you found, paint over what's already on the back, so it's not mistaken); and if you're going to hide rocks in cemeteries, place them in public spots like near a fence or water spigot to make it obvious that it's okay to take. Oh, and don't hide rocks in the grass - mowers will ruin them and possibly hurt someone when the blades whip it into the air! Let's use some common sense out there. ^_^ Rocks up for grabs will be in public areas and be marked as such. Let's keep this fun!

~ * ~ 2022 ~ * ~

~ * ~ 2021 ~ * ~

Haven't done as many rocks this year, but I have put some variations of my go-to designs out from time to time, along with a few unique ones. I like the summer colors on these Be Lion-Hearted ones and the way the colors look fluorescent on the black rocks. ^_^ The metallic ones are hard to see, though, so I likely won't do more like that.

~ * ~ 2020 ~ * ~

Be safe - now and in the months to come - by wiping down finished rocks with alcohol, or sanitizer, before placing / hiding, and whenever you find one and pick it up. If you don't have alcohol wipe packets or sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer would be fine, I'm sure, and do your hands at the same time. Someone else has suggested keeping plastic sandwich bags in your car (in lieu of vinyl or latex gloves) to pick rocks up with and then sanitize them at home. Not that I'm a fan of plastic bags, so perhaps a little beach bucket and a dish glove which can both be washed along with the rocks.

Christmas colors also make neat sky colors for the silhouettes. ^_~ And I found rocks perfectly shaped like a lion nose and a fang (or claw). ^_^ So cool.

I had come across a couple of rocks shaped like Africa and finally painted them. Thought that was pretty cool - I've seen a couple shaped like States, too. (I'd even come across a hole in a sidewalk that was shaped like Africa and thought about putting a lion in it, but don't remember where it was.) ~ The adorable peeking lion was just a matter of adding tawny yellow to light spots already in the right places. ^_^ The black spot was like a fluffy lion mane with a big light spot in the middle where a face would be, one where an ear would show, and a couple on the bottom as if indicating paws. So cool. ^_^ Wish I could remember to take "before" photos, but I get focused on where I'm going with it - not where it started. ^_~

2020Oct... Halloween and Autumn colors out and about here and there...

Yes, still painting and putting rocks out. ^_^ Was really happy with how well the lioness came out. (natural shape of the rock!) ^_^ Also now doing more variations of colors in the silhouette ones. Some are really pretty! (Be Lion-Hearted rocks come out just as pretty or cool with streaky sky colors as background, too. ^_^) Tried a varigated version of lion-heart and lion head (below)... Couldn't get it like I had envisioned, but still bright and colorful. (It's amazing how many rocks naturally become heart-shaped. ^_^) Going to do a few lion-webs to go out for Halloween.

I don't post every single rock I do, as most are simply variations of styles I've already posted images of, but I like how these came out. ^_^ Oh, and I found some more shells I had and feel they came out pretty well. I just went with their natural coloring, only adding a face and sometimes drybrushing mane accents. The black one is hard to see! I'll have to be careful where I put him. ^_^

^_^ Glad people are enjoying the rocks I paint - but, please, don't hoard a bunch of them ^,^ : They're to spread awareness and encourage kids to learn about lions. ^_^ Some adults just want to collect painted rocks and don't even look at the information. ;_; That's why I don't hint where they'll be and try to spread them out. ;p I won't be hiding at a certain place anymore. Mind you it's over 10 miles away and on bike for me to spread awareness to that area. It's really crowded when I get there and I don't like to be seen, so instead of going down in I'd been leaving a couple at the top of the hill to brighten the day of people who had to park so far away, but it seems one person was getting a lot of them and not even checking the KRWS website out. ;_; It just kinda' defeats the purpose. ^,^ So, you'll have to keep an eye out elsewhere, now! ;p At least a few were posted, so people could see them that way. Thanks! ^_^

He's #LionWhispererSA by the way, on facebook and instagram. Check him out! ^_~ (SA is for South Africa)

These two groups above went out to be given to people in isolation in hopes they'll brighten someone's day. I have a few more Easter egg Be lion-hearted ones I'll put out this week and some others I'll put out here and there in the coming weeks. ~ I now wipe them down before placing, but please sanitize them again when you pick any up.

Love how the one blue one looks feathery; and on another I was going to add the brighter blue and some white like on the others, but loved the smokey blue as is so left it. ^_^ Also, experimenting with more variations of the "Be lion-hearted." They're all cool in their own ways, but that black and gold really stands out on the stained-glass background. Love the black and silver on blue background, too.

~ * ~ 2019 ~ * ~

Painted this lion racecar on a rock for a young relative. (Came out so cool, I painted one for myself, too. ^,^) Also did some of my usual lion types in Christmas candy colors. Some of them really look like candy! (Please, don't try to eat them! ^o^) AND tadaa! ^_^ Did a few of the "My gold at the end of the rainbow" with a lioness.

Also TIPS for winter rockhunters : Take off your gloves before picking up a rock, or it might just pop right out of your hand - and break. ;_;

2019 November - Yay! I was finally able to get more sealer. ^_^ ...Just in time to cause some trouble... ^o^ I was able to finish the "My Roar on the Shore" ones I'd started. (If you're not local, Roar on the Shore is an annual gathering of motorcyclists at the lake that raises money for charities. Above is my version. ^_~) I also finished up a napping lioness who was just plain yellow for probably a year while I thought about how I wanted to detail it (really happy with how she came out and glad I waited and didn't rush it just to get it done) and made a few lion heads in autumn colors. Same with the rock naturally shaped like a lion sitting next to a rock: Glad I didn't rush it just to get it done. After it sitting for so long, I changed it a bit and it's sooo much better than how I had started it. Then... spawned by coloring page 115, in the middle of working on it... ^o^ I couldn't resist making a couple painted rocks depicting the theory of the real origin of rainbows... ^_^

~ I had run out of sealer, so hadn't been putting new rocks out for awhile.

2019Aug - Wanted to share a bit of warning about the harm to wildlife done by some things people glue onto painted rocks. PLEASE, think about the environment when making things you'll put out into it. Most craft paints are non-toxic, to my knowledge, so I didn't worry too much about making a special note before. Yet, I have noticed a growing number of people simply gluing things to rocks rather than paint them, or to enhance a painted rock in some way. I never saw the draw to it, as it should be obvious that stuff isn't likely to stay on long. ...and not just because of weather or wear.

Wildlife is commonly attracted to shiny things. Some collect it (like crows and raccoons), while others will eat it, thinking it's beetles or something. I've even heard of birds collecting plain painted rocks just for the bright colors. You should have heard by now about seabirds and other wildlife ingesting plastic. Gluing it to an attractively bright rock is something to reconsider! ^,^ The instances of hazardous encounters is on the rise, and people in the wildlife field are reaching out to let us know and ask that we please put a little more thought into the bigger picture. I don't have social media so took a screenshot to post here. This plea has traveled from someone in Texas, but it applies worldwide I would say. You can go to the post on facebook and share it to spread awareness. (I did a few eyes before because I figured they'd be kept and not left out, but no more googly eyes on seashells for me! Even I hadn't considered something might eat them. ^.^)

As they say: We're not saying everyone must stop doing that, period. Just please don't do it on rocks that are left out. Thanks! ^_^

~ * ~ 2018 ~ * ~

Nov/Dec

lol The poor lion on the left was still right where I put him on a stone wall, probably about a month ago? ^,^ People have had no problem seeing rocks I put there before, but I guess this little guy blended in a little too well. ^_~ I moved him and put a lion-flake in his place. A few lion-flakes have been finding their way out here and there, along with a few more of previous styles. They're not as impressive as the lion-webs, but still nice.

September

Put a few like this out, now. ^_~

"My gold at the end of the rainbow" with the gold being lions was inspired by bonus coloring page 25. I was trying to make it a little more fanciful and put a rainbow on the horizon. Then, I put Lion and Snow Leopard on, and Lion ended up napping under the rainbow. I was like, "Ohh..!" So cute. ^_~ And *snap* "My gold at the end of the rainbow!" So cool. ^_^ Of course, I had to paint some! Can't really tell from the image, but there are accents of gold paint.

Okay, I am having just too much fun with rocks here. ^,^ My mom was a Leo, and she liked pink. So, around her bday, I thought I'd make a pink lion. It was really cool, and I excitedly made a bunch in other colors. ^_^ The beige and grey lions are the color of the rock with just accents added, and the sitting-lion-shaped rock below was naturally that shape. ^_^ So cool.

I've been making a lot of similar ones (like lion heads and silhouettes), so I'm not going to post photos of every single rock I do. Consider the ones shown on the site as samples.

August

Another "great fun" rock! The rock in the up-close image had natural ridges and coloring like a wildebeest sneaking past a sleeping lion! ^o^ So fun. I just dry-brushed a bit of yellow to highlight the lion and added black accents to both animals. - Did you know: There are places where these animals go into caves - to lick the walls for the salt. Even elephants! That was amazing to see. If I can remember what documentary it was in, I should do a page on that some day. ^_~

That large one in the top middle, brown with black center: That is the natural coloring of the rock! The splash of brown in the middle of the black is awesomely, naturally, cat-shaped! Complete with slinky tail! I just added a bit of gold, the eye. I've always loved how rocks can be so cool! And then there's the naturally-formed lion on top of a rock, and the sea lion on top of some ice... Awesome fun. ^_^

July

I often hold some of the cooler rocks. ;p If you live local to me and donate to the Kevin Richardson Foundation, and would like a painted lion rock, I'll give you one. You're likely here because you've already found one of my rocks, but there may be a different design you'd like to keep. Don't be afraid to ask! If you can't catch me out and about, you can email me to meet somewhere. (I don't get alerts and don't check it every day, so expect a day or two before I answer.) gstk83@catlover.com

Remember my April Fool's Day coloring page? Well, in honor of Nelson Mandela Day (2018July18), I made 67 "black leopard in the dark" rocks. ^_^ My brother picked on me about those, that no one would pick a black rock up. Yet, when a delightful older gentleman asked me about lions, and I mentioned I paint rocks to help spread awareness, he asked if I'd done a black one. ^_^ He'd seen one of the "black leopard in the dark" and thought it quite amusing. Made both our days, I believe. ^_~ (and, of course, I texted the brother all about it with a sticky-outy tongue emoticon ;)

April 2018 - I really like the turtle. Someone gave me this mutilated looking rock, because they didn't know what to do with it, and I immediately saw a turtle beak. ^_^ Just painted the head green and gave it eyes. ~ The seashells were naturally colored like lion manes. Loved them! Tried different things with them and like the black noses best. The big rock has a scene on both sides - lion on one, snow leopards on the other.

~ * ~ 2017 ~ * ~

LOL ... The lion head that stands up was still where I put it after four days in a busy public place. I think because it stands up, people must have thought it was part of the decor and not for grabs. ^_^ Gave me a tickle. The white rock with black dot is a joke my brothers pulled on me when we were little. It's called "a polar bear in a snowstorm". I had that one on a picnic table next to a sidewalk, pretty much in very plain site, but after two days of no one seeing it, lol, I tucked it into some grass next to a tree and it was gone fast. Tells you how good "hiding in plain site" works. ^_^

Also, someone found the Berenstain Bear Papa Bear at the library, and I wonder if they realized I'd hid him with the Berenstain Bear books... I thought that was so clever.

The little, long ovals from the second group-photo were a rock that I split apart on purpose. I decided to hide them put together like the original rock, the painted scenes on the inside. I thought that'd be a cool surprise for whoever found it, like opening an Easter egg. ^_^

After a week against a tree along a certain walk, the hyena from the first batch looked lonely. So, I brought him home. I may or may not re-hide him. ;p (His rock had a crack that made me leary of putting him out in the first place. Too much handling, or weathering, might split him. ... And, I just really like how well he came out, so I'm making excuses. - even though I'm not a fan of hyenas. lol)

[ 2018July ...seems that old comment was misunderstood... ^,^ Don't get me wrong: I love hyena! I'm just a very straight-forward type absolutely no good at social dancing, so I identify more with lions and leopards. Not being a fan of hyena didn't mean I don't like them, just that it's not natural for me to be attached to a hyena rock. Unicorn, any type of kitty, would be no surprise. Yet, here, almost a year later, I still haven't put the hyena out. It's a keeper. ^_^ ...totally unnatural. You see what this Kevin guy does to you. ^_~ ]

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Be a steward of the Earth.

~ * ~ gstk83@catlover.com ~ * ~