Materials Needed

Round or slightly dome-shaped rock
Cream or ivory acrylic paint
Peach or coral acrylic paint
White acrylic paint
Light pink or mauve acrylic paint
Tan or beige acrylic paint
Black acrylic paint
Fine detail brush
Medium flat brush
Clear sealant (gloss finish for pearlescent look)
Pencil

Step-by-Step Instructions

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Step 1: Base coat and sketch the spiral

Wash and dry your rock. Paint the entire surface with cream or ivory paint. Let dry. Using a pencil, sketch the spiral of a nautilus shell — start with a small point at the center and draw an increasingly wide spiral working outward. The nautilus spiral is mathematically elegant: each chamber is larger than the previous.

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Step 2: Paint the spiral chambers

Paint the interior chambers of the shell in alternating warm tones: cream, peach, light pink, and tan. Each spiral section gets a different shade. The colors should flow naturally from warm peach at the center to cooler cream at the outer edge, creating a gradient across the chambers.

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Step 3: Add pearlescent shading

Using white paint slightly thinned with water, brush delicate highlights along the upper edge of each spiral chamber. This creates a pearlescent sheen that mimics the iridescent inner surface of real sea shells. Let it dry between the coats.

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Step 4: Draw the dividing lines

Using a fine brush and dark tan or light brown paint, carefully trace the dividing lines between each spiral chamber. These curved lines follow the spiral and separate the different-colored sections. They should be thin but visible, like the suture lines of a real nautilus.

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Step 5: Add outer shell details and seal

Paint the outer edge of the shell with a series of thin curved lines in tan and white to suggest the ridged texture of the shell exterior. Apply a gloss sealant for a beautiful pearlescent finish that mimics the real lustre of sea shells.

Step 6: Add RoxGeo Code

On the bottom or back of your rock, write ROXGEO.COM followed by a slash and your rock’s unique code (e.g. ROXGEO.COM/ABC123). This lets the finder go directly to your rock’s profile page and log their discovery. If the rock is too small for the full address, write #ROX followed by the code without spaces (e.g. #ROXABC123) — it’s short, easy to search on Google, and leads straight to your rock’s journey page. Use a fine-tip permanent marker or acrylic paint pen, and seal it with clear varnish so the code stays readable through rain, sun, and adventure.

Helpful Tips

Look up a nautilus shell photo for reference — the golden spiral proportion is fascinating and helps with accuracy.
Gloss sealant on sea shell rocks creates a beautiful wet, pearlescent finish.
Use warm peach and cream tones for a natural nautilus, or go vivid with blues and purples for a fantasy shell.
A round or oval rock naturally fits a spiral shell design.
Try painting a collection of different shell types — conch, clam, scallop — on different rocks.
For the RoxGeo code on the bottom, use a waterproof permanent marker (like Sharpie) or an acrylic paint pen. Apply 2–3 coats of clear sealant over the code — this keeps it readable through rain, sun, and handling for months.
Writing #ROXCODE (e.g. #ROXABC123) on your rock makes it easy to find via Google search. We actively optimize for this hashtag, so anyone who searches for it will find your rock’s profile page quickly.
The full address ROXGEO.COM/CODE takes the finder directly to your rock’s card, where they can see its full travel history, previous finders, and photos from every stop on its journey.

Paint this rock and track its journey with RoxGeo!

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