Tools and Materials

• You'll need paint thinner, a selection of brushes and a variety of acrylic paint colors including various shades of brown, black, white, various shades of green and gray. These are prime colors for rocks and mountains. Other materials to keep on hand include a selection of canvas, sketch pads and pencils. You'll want to add more to your toolbox later, but these are the basics to get started with mountains and rocks.
  
  

Sketching the Landscape

• Sketch the composition of your landscape in pencil. Sketch lightly and include any details that might give your rocks and mountains additional character. This might include snow caps on the tips of the mountains, crevices and jagged edges, or even a little vegetation. Make your sketch as detailed as possible. This will allow you to concentrate on color rather than composition when you get down to painting. Work from a photograph or from several photographs if it helps you capture all the nuances.
  
  

Choosing and Applying Paint Colors

• Carefully select the colors for your rocks and mountains. You'll primarily want to use shades of gray, but black will help add depth. It will help to keep a palette handy for mixing paint colors, especially where the grays are concerned. The more shades you use, the better your representation of the rock or stone will be. You can apply the paint directly from the tube when you want it thick for texture, but mix the colors down with a paint thinner to vary the tones across your painting.
  
  Add stone-like texture to your rocks by sprinkling a little light sand into black paint and dabbing it onto the gray. The effect is visually and texturally appealing. You can also use thinned black to create the crevices and indents found in rocks and mountains and dark green and brown paint lines to create clumps of grass. You can also apply paint to your canvas using the edge of a knife and dragging it at an angle to apply the paint in what resembles the even texture of rock.