Sunflower Steppingstone
by Lin Wellford
(Inspired at Home Radio Guest - 6/7/09)

Begin with several clean, dry, steppingstones. You can make your flowers different colors and styles, and even add some butterflies among your flower designs. Other supplies required are: DecoArt Patio Paint (or other exterior quality acrylic paint) in Pine Green, Sunshine Yellow, Patio Brick, Wrought Iron Black, and Cloud White; assorted brushes including a ½” wide, stiff-bristle square brush, a slightly smaller flat or round brush, and a liner brush or other narrow brush for painting lines; Pencil.

Step 1- Draw the Flower

Use a pencil to draw a circle in the center of your stepping stone. Trace around a plastic cup if you want it to be perfectly round. Draw pointed oval petals from the top and bottom of the circle and from each side. Allow the tips of this first set of petals to overlap onto the sides of the stone. Add slightly shorter petals to the center between each of the first petals. Finally, fill in with a partial, pointy petal end between every full petal to complete the design.

Step 2- Create Dark Backdrop Around Petals

Use DecoArt Patio Paint in Pine Green and a small (1/2 inch wide), stiff brush to paint around the outside edges of all the petals. You can paint the sides of the stepping stone all the way down, or stop halfway, since the stones tend to settle in the ground with time.

Step 3- Fill in the Petal Shapes

Clean your brush and use Sunshine Yellow to fill in all the petal shapes. Leave the center unpainted for now.

Step 4- Shade the Petals

Mix two parts Sunshine Yellow with one part Patio Brick to get a soft, golden color. Use your medium sized brush to add shadows along the base of each petal where it meets the center. On some petals, extend these shadows along either side more than halfway up the petal. On others, keep them shorter, so that you have a random look. Add a little shadow to the base of each partial petal, too.

Step 5- Outline your Design

Mix Patio Brick and Wrought Iron Black 2:1 to get a deep chocolate brown color. Use your liner brush to outline along the edges of every petal to make them stand out clearly. Outline around the center circle as well, and add a few delicate lines to the base of the larger petals, so that they radiate outward around the center circle. Switch to your medium brush and fill in the center of the flower with this dark brown color.

Step 6- Highlight the Petals

Clean your medium size brush well, then mix equal parts white and Sunshine Yellow to get a much paler yellow. Use this to add highlights along the edges of the petals near the tips and to add a line or two of lighter yellow along the centers of the larger petals as well.

Step 7- Detail the Flower Center

If your brush has a pointy handle, it is perfect for creating a stippled design in the center of the flower head. If not, use the tip of your medium size brush to dot on Patio Brick more thickly in the middle of the center and more sparsely around the outside edges.

Lin Wellford is the author of a best-selling series of books on the art of painting on rocks. For more easy ways to turn your yard into a gorgeous garden gallery, look for her latest book, Painted Garden Art Anyone Can Do.