How to Paint Custom Graphics on a Motorcycle Over a Clear Coat

Painting custom graphics on your motorcycle is a definite way to spice up your ride and add a touch of your own personality. One of the best ways to add your own custom graphics is to paint each of the graphics by hand yourself. This allows you to place the graphic essentially wherever your hands can reach and cuts down on expense and preparation time. The only thing that limits you is your imagination. A classic motorcycle graphic includes a skull with wild horns sticking out of it.

Things You'll Need

• Soft graphite pencil
• Enamel paint in white, light brown, blue light blue, red and black
• Windex
• Paper towels
• Paint thinner (for cleaning the brushes)
• High-gloss enamel sealer spray, 1 can
• Small detail model brushes

Instructions

1. 

   Clean the area on your motorcycle that you are adding the graphics to. Use a product like Windex to thoroughly wipe away all the grime from the area.

2. 

   Lay down the line work first with a very soft graphite pencil. Draw a circle for the top section of a skull. Add a curved line directly below this for the jaw. Add the horns with a set of curved parallel lines that start on the upper left and upper right of the skull, curve down around the face and then point out away from the skull.

3. 

   Draw the eye sockets and nose with triangle shapes. The eyes should be two large triangles with the inside angle pointing toward each other. The nose should be a smaller triangle directly below the two eyes. Use an upside down "Y" shape to create the forked tongue of the skull.

4. 

   Flesh out the details in enamel paint with a small detail brush. Paint just outside the graphite guidelines. This will ensure that the paint adheres to the clear coat on your bike. Darken in the eyes, nose and mouth with black enamel. Let the paint dry for 2 hours and gently wipe away the graphite.

5. 

   Paint the skull white, the tongue red and the horns blue. Add light brown around the edges of the eyes of the skull, the teeth and the bottom of the skull for shadows. Add light blue to the tops and side of the horns.

6. Spray over the area with high gloss enamel sealer. Enamel is sturdy paint and should hold up on its own, but a quick coat of sealer will ensure that it lasts for a very long time.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a small photocopy of your graphic and cut it out with an X-acto knife. Hold this up to different places on your motorcycle to find out where the graphic will work best.

• Always paint in a well-ventilated, open area.

Resources

• Check out Jim Munroe's gallery of custom motorcycle graphics.