How to: I.DRAW.ON.BIKES
So you want to customize your bike frame or some of your bike parts? That´s an awesome idea and I will give you some advice and tips how this DIY Project will succeed.
I started with I.DRAW.ON.BIKES roughly 5 years ago and learned everything with google and asking car painters and also people like Not.Chas who is a big inspiration to me. My How-to is just a great mix 5 of years experience and a lot of trial and error.
If you have a good tip for me to improve my work flow, hit me up: Juliane.Borths@gmail.com
But lets get started on your project.
Lets say, you want to draw on your frame, here is how you can do it:
Your bike should be dismantled. Your frame should be either have an intact layer of clear coat or has a base color without clear coat.
List of items you need:
silicone remover
sandpaper (1500 or 2000 grain)
paper towels
rubber gloves
clear coat 2K
Pens or Paint
And here we are with the most frequent question I got over the last years:
What pens do you use?
I have tried so many different pens and I do own probably 200-300 pens.
My go-to Pen and Brand is: Molotow One4all
It´s an acrylic based pen, which comes with different pen tips which can be easily replaced. Also these pens can be refilled, which also means you can mix the colors yourself in case they don't have the shade you like. What I started doing the last year was using the paint of the pens and applied it with brushes on the frames, which give a totally different look. My tip here: invest in a high quality art brush. Molotow Pens are great because they have a high opacity and the paint behaves very well on the metal frame.
Posca: I tried Posca which is similar to Molotow but I didn’t like it.
Spray Bike Pen: Spray Bike Colors are the go to Spray Paint if you want to customize your bike. Its an easy to use-at-home-spray paint made for bikes. They will release pens this years as well. I was able to try the pens at the Kolektif Bike Fair and I really liked the paint coming out of that pen. A great option as well.
Stabilo: Stabilo, another german brand like Molotov who just released an acrylic pen made for bike frames and similar art projects. I haven't tried the pen yet, but it looked promising online.
Sharpie: Sharpie is a brand from the US and its an oil based product, which is completely different than the pens above. Sharpies are great, because they are durable without having to clear coat them in the end. Their accessibility is a bit limited in Germany. The paint is not as opaque as the Molotow for example.
Edding: Last but not least the Edding Pen, its really good and durable paint but the pen tips and how the paint flows out is not to my personal liking. Edding has a pen especially for: Glass, Metal, Plastic.
If you want to use any of these pens for longer: Store them horizontally.
Once you made the decision of the pen, start prepping your frame.
Dismantle the frame
Use the sand paper to Roughen the surface, but don’t sand down the clear coat.
Now wipe down your frame with the silicon remover. From now on you want to wear gloves, because you want your grease-and-dust free.
Put on a meditation playlist and start painting. I usually warm up on a blank piece of paper to get into the zone and then start on one end of the frame.
Drawing on a frame is a bit tricky because the surface is round and your hand will hang in the air a lot, but shaky lines can be cool as well.
Once your finished, I advice to have the frame clear coated. Either you do it yourself with some clear coat from the car section from the hardware store or you ask your local car painter if they can clear coat your frame.
If your in Berlin or Rostock, I can give you addresses where I went.
