How to make EL Wire Art

Step 3 Pick Subject Matter

Decide what kind of image you want to make. It should be something that would work well for EL wire. If using 2.5mm EL wire, try to avoid images requiring lots of points or sharp angles. 2.5mm EL wire can be damaged by forcing it into a sharp angle, even a sharp 90 degree angle. Once you have the image in mind, you can draw it or look it up in Google Images. Save the image, open it in your Paint program , and adjust it if necessary. Since it will be printed, try to reduce it to simple black lines on a white background, to avoid using a lot of ink. Resize the image to the size you want it to be in your completed artwork. Use Print Preview to see if it is the correct size. I have chosen the biohazard symbol, because it looks cool like a big dog, and I decided to use the angel hair 1.2mm wire because of the sharp angles. Angel Hair EL wire has a much smaller bend radius than the 2.5mm high bright wire. 1.2mm EL wire may not be as bright as the 2.5mm wire, but the biohazard symbol has some very sharp points that would be difficult to create with 2.5mm wire.