How to prepare your surfboard before painting it | Step by step tutorial

Want to paint your surfboard? Watch this tutorial first! Surface preparation is the key to a long lasting paint job, so don’t risk your great artwork flaking off within days. Follow me on Insty:   / fieldey   and sign-up to my MadSkillz MasterClub newsletter: http://www.fieldey.com/madskillz-mast... and get ready to take your art to the next level!

Preparing your board for painting is super easy as long as you keep in mind the following:

Wax is the enemy to paint - if you’re painting a pre-loved board be sure to take all the wax off first, if it’s cold I like to use a hair dryer to remove the wax, but boiling water works well too. If it’s a hot day just leave it in the sun for 10 minutes to soften the wax.

Once the wax is off you need to use turps (a.k.a mineral turpentine) to clean the board down and dissolve any remaining wax and impurities.The next step after that is to use acetone to get rid of any further wax and also the oily residue left by the turps.

If your board has a shiny finish or a glossy clear coat you’re going to need to sand it back a bit - most paints have a tough time bonding to a smooth, shiny finish so the sand paper will rough up the fibreglass and give the paint something to bond with. You need to use 240 grit sand paper and just sand it until the shiny finish appears dull-looking. Please note that a light sanding will not hurt the fibreglass on your board, but don’t go crazy with it!

If you’ve prepped your board and you’re ready to paint, check out this handy inspirational tutorial I prepared earlier:    • How to use spray paint and paint mark...  

Filming and editing by Matt Fieldes Photography |   / mattfieldesphotography  

If you are after some short, easy to follow tutorials, check out my Mad Skillz Masterclass series    • Mad Skillz Masterclass Full Series - ...   They’re a series of in-depth YouTube tutorials where I demonstrate some of my most popular art techniques for surfboards, skateboards, walls and canvasses… they’re also dead easy but super effective so that anyone can give them a go.

My name is Fieldey, I’m a surf, skate and street artist from Australia. I started this channel 5 years ago when I was an unhappy corporate designer yearning to become an artist. Since posting my very first video I’ve been on a crazy journey from teaching myself to paint surfboards and skateboards, to painting large-scale street art murals!

Turning my passion into a full-time career has been a massive learning curve and I want to pass on the skills and knowledge I’ve learned, as well as inspire others who’re just starting out on their creative journeys.

I post on Saturday every fortnight, sometimes more, and you can expect to see easy to follow, Mad Skillz Masterclass tutorials, Artist Insider vlogs and inspirational projects that I’ve been working on.

Grab your brushes, hit that subscribe button and join me on an artistic adventure!    / @fieldeytv  

For business enquires or to enquire about a commission please visit: http://www.fieldey.com/

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