Introduction: How to Put Designs on a Skateboard

Have you ever wanted to have a custom skateboard, and wanted to make it yourself? Well read these simple instructions, and you can have one in no time!

Tools needed:

-Spray Paint
-Spray Primer
-Razor Blades or pen knife
-60 and 150 grit sandpaper (optional)
-Skateboard Deck
-Painters tape
-Pencil for sketching designs




Leave a comment and tell me if this helped you! Good luck!

Step 1: Priming the Board

First, you'll need to use your spray primer on the board. If you want it to stick better, use the sandpaper to rough up the old finish on the board. Then just put about 3-4 even coats of spray primer onto the board, and let that dry for a day.

Step 2: Spraying the Base Color

Next, after priming, you'll want to choose what your base color will be. If you will be doing a lot of masking techniques (for example, my Eddie Van Halen skateboard design), you'll want to decide what color should go on first, depending on your design. Once you have the color chosen, spray 3-4 coats of that color on the board, but remember to put them on evenly. You don't want it to run.

Step 3: Masking and Sketching Designs

Let the base paint dry for at least a day before masking the deck up. Cover the whole skateboard, including the exposed wooden sides, with painters tape, with each strip slightly overlapping the other. When that is done, begin sketching your designs wherever you can on the skateboard. Some areas are harder to sketch on, like the nose or the tail. Look out for the screw holes too. I suggest using pencil, as pen does not write nicely on tape, and its not erasable.

Step 4: Cutting Out Designs From the Masking

After your designs are all sketched up and ready to go, you'll want to get your razor blades ready. Honestly, a pen knife would be a bit easier, because applying too much pressure to the tape with the razor may damage the underlying base coat. Using a pen knife gives much more pressure control. To cut out your designs, lightly cut on your lines with the blade. Be sure to use a sharp one, as dull ones will require pressure, which will gouge your board. Try to use long, confident lines, and not short little cuts. The longer the lines, the better the design will come out. I can't stress enough that you DO NOT want to push hard when cutting, as you can see in the pictures. My brother pushed a little too hard at the start (the AC/DC logo was where he started) and left marks. The next coat covered them up a little though, so a few mistakes is okay. After the designs are cut out, use the tip of the razor and lightly lift up the tape you have cut, depending on how you want the masking to be. Take a look at how mine was taped, we removed the surrounding tape from the designs, because my base coat was red and I wanted the designs to be red. Therefore, we left tape over what we wanted to keep red. When removing the tape, though, pull it off slowly so no paint is removed. This is the most delicate part of the process, so do not mess up and take your time. Otherwise, you may have to start all over, or get messy and use tape and correct your messed up cuts.

Step 5: Painting the Final Coat and Removing the Tape

After the designs are cut and ready to be painted, repeat the process described back in the applying base color step. It's the same thing; apply 3 to 4 coats of the color of your choice. Let it dry for a day or more, and remove the tape VERY slowly, as you don't want to lift any paint with it. You may want to cut very lightly around the tape with your razor to separate the tape from the paint. Not too hard though, just very very lightly.

Step 6: Stand Back and Admire Your Work

You're done! If you want, you can put the trucks on and ride the skateboard. For me, though, I'll keep it on display in my room along with my other board. Take a look at the other example of the same processed described, but on my brothers guitar instead. It shows that this can be used on many different things, not just skateboards.

That's it, thanks for reading my instructable! I'd like to thank my brother for helping me by taping, sketching the designs, and cutting. If anyone wants to see more of his work, he has a page at DeviantART. It's hvrock13.deviantart.com