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There's a lot of ways to create a logo on a T-shirt, and this incorporates a few that are mentioned in other instructables. You'll need:
1. pre-washed solid color t-shirt (any color),
2. black permanent marker (medium fine point),
3. acrylic paint,
4. textile medium,
5. cardboard to both create a stencil and use as a guard between the shirt layers, and
6. graphite pencil to trace designs onto the shirt (for dark colored shirts, you will need a white or very light colored pencil).
1. pre-washed solid color t-shirt (any color),
2. black permanent marker (medium fine point),
3. acrylic paint,
4. textile medium,
5. cardboard to both create a stencil and use as a guard between the shirt layers, and
6. graphite pencil to trace designs onto the shirt (for dark colored shirts, you will need a white or very light colored pencil).
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Signing UpStep 1Step 1: Designing the Logo
Note: the first step to painting or drawing on a t-shirt is to wash and dry the t-shirt at least once before applying the design.
If this is your first time designing a t-shirt, a logo, or both, begin with a fairly simple design. In the attached pictures, there are two shirts that share a design and one that does not. The owl was based on a logo I had drawn a few years ago and was ideal for testing a logo design because the drawing is fairly simple. On the other other hand, the "Drastic" logo was more complex to work with.
However, both logo styles started with the same process. First, I drew the logos on a regular piece of paper. I cut these out and placed them on fairly thin pieces of cardboard. Cardstock and posterboard also work for this set. Rather than worry about cutting out too much of the stencil, I took a drawing pencil (something like an H-grade pencil) and traced only the contour of the stencil. It was then fairly simple to eyeball the remaining features and draw them directly in without tracing from the stencil.
This method might be harder for some logos, or not ideal for designing the first logo, so you may want to cut the stencil entirely and trace around it on the shirt.
Note: Your pencil lines do not have to be perfect when you begin tracing the stencil onto the t-shirt. They can be erased or you can adjust your design when you begin to paint the logo.
If you find the pencil lines hard to see when you begin applying paint to the logo, go over the lines with a Sharpie. Don't press the marker too hard on the shirt, since the grain of the fabric doesn't always flow with the direction you are moving the marker. Remember that these are just start lines and can be reapplied in later steps.
If this is your first time designing a t-shirt, a logo, or both, begin with a fairly simple design. In the attached pictures, there are two shirts that share a design and one that does not. The owl was based on a logo I had drawn a few years ago and was ideal for testing a logo design because the drawing is fairly simple. On the other other hand, the "Drastic" logo was more complex to work with.
However, both logo styles started with the same process. First, I drew the logos on a regular piece of paper. I cut these out and placed them on fairly thin pieces of cardboard. Cardstock and posterboard also work for this set. Rather than worry about cutting out too much of the stencil, I took a drawing pencil (something like an H-grade pencil) and traced only the contour of the stencil. It was then fairly simple to eyeball the remaining features and draw them directly in without tracing from the stencil.
This method might be harder for some logos, or not ideal for designing the first logo, so you may want to cut the stencil entirely and trace around it on the shirt.
Note: Your pencil lines do not have to be perfect when you begin tracing the stencil onto the t-shirt. They can be erased or you can adjust your design when you begin to paint the logo.
If you find the pencil lines hard to see when you begin applying paint to the logo, go over the lines with a Sharpie. Don't press the marker too hard on the shirt, since the grain of the fabric doesn't always flow with the direction you are moving the marker. Remember that these are just start lines and can be reapplied in later steps.
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Actually stuff I don't have to search far and wide for! (unlike heat transfer paper!)