Guitar hand painting art

[jimmyjoe]

Hi guys,
recently I stumbled upon Brad Paisley's "splash tele" and it caught my eye.
Not necessarily the splash itself, but the color patches.
I started digging and I found a few examples of stylish hand painted axes:

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... and a lot more.

I'm considering painting my Classic 60's (Oly White) which has some minor finish damages. I'd like to simply paint over existing finish.
Have you tried this? Could you share your experience, which paints and tools you used? Sources of inspiration?
And of course pictures?

 

[jimmyjoe]

anybody?

 

[Deaf Eddie]

Check out Creston Lea, custom guitar builder...

 

[brookdalebill]

I’m still grossly unable to post links, but the late, brilliant April Lawton hand painted two of her Gibson guitars.
The most magnificent or the two (IMO) was her late 50s triple pickup Les Paul Custom.
She also painted a Barney Kessel.
The latter was sold by Fretted Americana, and a Phil X video was posted.
She was a great player/artist.
I tried searching for pics on line, and there are a few.
RIP, April.

 

[Preacher]

I really would not call any of them other than #2 a painted finish.

The first one is a group of different woods all stained natural. Mahogany, ash and maple with some cool binding.
The second looks to be painted.
The third is some cool lumber but it appears to be more of a burl or wormy lumber that has been cut apart, or routered for some binding and then stained in different shades.

 

[jimmyjoe]

I’m still grossly unable to post links, but the late, brilliant April Lawton hand painted two of her Gibson guitars.
The most magnificent or the two (IMO) was her late 50s triple pickup Les Paul Custom.
She also painted a Barney Kessel.
The latter was sold by Fretted Americana, and a Phil X video was posted.
She was a great player/artist.
I tried searching for pics on line, and there are a few.
RIP, April.

Hey, this Barney Kessel one looks awesome! April Lawton was a great artist for sure.
Anyways, I'm looking for something a lot simpler that I could do by myself, with very little previous experience in hand painting.
I don't even know what kind of paint should be used to stick to the polyester finish and have maximum strength...

 

[jimmyjoe]

I really would not call any of them other than #2 a painted finish.

The first one is a group of different woods all stained natural. Mahogany, ash and maple with some cool binding.
The second looks to be painted.
The third is some cool lumber but it appears to be more of a burl or wormy lumber that has been cut apart, or routered for some binding and then stained in different shades.

I'm sure you're right on the techniques used. I just wanted to show what looks good to me. I'm gonna restrict myself to only painting over existing finish

 

[hemingway]

Google Fender Custom shop hand-painted guitars, there should be some pips.

 

[djh22]

If I recall correctly, Hendrix used nail polish on a guitar or two 60s and George Harrison used Day-Glo paint to create Rocky.

 

[Deaf Eddie]

Speaking of Rocky, my wife and I did one - she did the pickguard, I did the body. I used acrylic paint, and sprayed rattle-can lacquer over the body. I was able to rub it out a bit to a nice finish...

Not an exact copy, so I call it "the Tribute to Rocky." It was one of those Saga $100 Strat kits. Turned out to actually be a playable axe!

 

[bgmacaw]

I did a hydro-dip finishing on this Mosrite JR style kit from the Fretwire that I built a couple of years ago. The undercoat was gloss white. The dip process was a big trashcan filled with a water/borax solution and a selection of spray paints. It was sealed with a layer of poly.

 

[Deaf Eddie]

WOW! Great looking finish - that's like those "bowling ball" paint jobs Fender offered a few years ago.

 

[Woodisgood]

I haven’t touched this in like a year, but I’m thinking about trying to finish it, now that I’m not working due to coronavirus. There’s a spot where the fabric is supposed to kinda drape over her knee, but the more I paint, the more her knee disappears, so I gotta fix that.

As for paint, I scuffed the old finish with sandpaper, then I put down a primer, which I wouldn’t bother with unless you need to change the base color. In most circumstances, paint is a mechanical bond, so you just need a good, even tooth and a very clean surface to get a good bond. I’m using regular acrylic artists paint. That stuff adheres to most surfaces pretty reliably, and I haven’t had any problems so far. Someday when I finish, the plan is to build up a decent layer of B-72 paraloid. It’s some super plastic that’s used in conservation as an adhesive, barrier coat, or a stand alone protective coating, and it sticks to basically everything. It’s not hard like lacquer or poly. It’s a bit more gummy and flexible, like a varnish, so I have no idea if it’ll be pleasant to the touch on the surface of my guitar. But it doesn’t seem like a good idea to me to put a brittle clear coat over top of the soft paint. I do antique conservation and restoration, so I have prior experience with all these materials. In my head, I think it’ll all work. But I haven’t done any guitars before, and my process is by no means tried and true. So no guarantees. Good luck!

 

[jimmyjoe]

Speaking of Rocky, my wife and I did one - she did the pickguard, I did the body. I used acrylic paint, and sprayed rattle-can lacquer over the body. I was able to rub it out a bit to a nice finish...

View attachment 702564

Not an exact copy, so I call it "the Tribute to Rocky." It was one of those Saga $100 Strat kits. Turned out to actually be a playable axe!

You mean first paint with acrylic, then fix with transparent lacquer spray?

 

[P Bill]

These ukes are from a 'work-for-the-dole' program I ran awhile back. We started with kit ukes, as donations to the Salvos and ended up building from scratch.

The reef sunburst knocked me out! The maker didn't play guitar.

The jigsaw fb/headstock is by a woman who's painted uke was a jigsaw themed kit.

The Dreamtime uke is by a participant and her pal who just showed up most days.

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[jimmyjoe]

I did a hydro-dip finishing on this Mosrite JR style kit from the Fretwire that I built a couple of years ago. The undercoat was gloss white. The dip process was a big trashcan filled with a water/borax solution and a selection of spray paints. It was sealed with a layer of poly.

View attachment 702563

Wow! this came out great!

 

[WireLine]

Remember this? Clapton’s SG from the 60s

 

[sloppychops]

Milwaukee's own Sarah Gallenberger!
http://sarahgallenberger.com/about/

 

[jimmyjoe]

Thank you all for the great info and impressive photos.
It looks like I have to create a design first, then go shopping for paint and tools.
I will post pics when ready.

 

[tvvoodoo]

if you are not afraid of taking a dremel to it, you can do some pretty fun things