I got a sort of "sneak peak" version of this book. It contained the first 10% of the book, so I can only give a limited review of what looks like a good art book. For stone painting, no artistic experience is needed, the materials are easy to find and fairly cheap, and both adults and children can do it. The author does stylized animals, flowers, and plants (as can be seen on the book cover), but she also wants to teach you to create your own style.

She has you use acrylic paint, paint pens, and acrylic inks as well as some small-sized brushes. In the part I saw, she mentions how quickly acrylic paints can dry but didn't give hints on how to deal with this. (It can be frustrating to use acrylic paint because it dries so quickly, so hopefully she gives tips during the actual step-by-step examples.) She also has you use a water-based finish to preserve your designs. She covered the materials you need and the overall method (from finding and cleaning the stones to putting the finish on) in the pages I saw. It looks fun.

After looking at this book I want to go out and find me some nice smooth stones to paint. Coloring books are currently the craze but the idea of painting stones pretty bright colors is appealing to me. Lots of great ideas in this book and simple instructions to get you started. I'm thinking about using some of the designs included in this book and maybe put a bible verse on the back.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dover books for providing me a digital copy of this book to review. This book will release on January 18, 2017.

Forget Adult Coloring. Try This Instead. (4 stars)

As a child I always had pockets full of rocks. If I saw one that I liked in it went. From ones with pretty colors and patterns to those that had neat shapes. Now my kids do the same. I have to sneak them back outside in my own pockets trailing them like bread crumbs on my walks. But then I found this book and now I think I might finally be able to keep some of them.

Bac's stone painting instructions take these ridiculously complex looking ideas and break them down in a way that feels very doable. If you've gotten bored with adult coloring I recommend giving this a try. It's a little bit more grown-up and aside from the initial paint investment it's cheap!

Great inspiration for crafting, with beautiful designs that are easy and lovely.