Painted Vinyl Record Tutorial

Hello again!

One of my favorite things is re-purposing old things into something new. Currently, I have an excess of vinyl records specifically for painting. I decided to actually start painting some today!

There was a lot of trial and error… painting a record is harder than it looks. If you don’t prep it at first, it all gets way too muddy. If the paint is too thin, it gets too muddy. If conditions aren’t perfect it ge– … you get the idea. It was a finnicky process since there’s a lot of grooves in there for paint to travel to zones it shouldn’t travel to!

First up, you need to put down a pretty generous layer of Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer. It looks messy in the photo, but it dries clear.

Now, you can start painting however you like. I used a combination of Americana Multi-Purpose paint, Golden High Flow Acrylics, and Liquitex basics acrylics.

For the first one, I’m using a stencil. (Americana Decor Stencil “Mandala”)

I used a round paintbrush with very coarse bristles. Dip the paintbrush in the paint you want to use, then brush something else first to rid the extra paint… then just start stippling it on the vinyl. You can fade in different colors. Use color schemes that inspire you and make you happy!

To finish the record, I use an acrylic paint marker (A re-fillable Molotow marker that I filled with Golden High Flow Acrylics) to add some finishing touches.

The finishing touches are very simple, but I think they add a lot to it. Also, you will notice imperfections since there is so many grooves in the record – I ended up digging the imperfections.

Lastly, once the paint has -completely- dried, put on another layer of the Multi-Purpose Sealer, and you are finished!

I ended up making quite a few records, some with stencils… some without. They all have pretty much the same process, except for without stencil I just went directly from paint to brush. Like this one: