Project Sheet

Glow Tape

Create a cool, glow-in-the-dark picture with Glow Tape.

  • Difficulty Level: Beginner
  • Completion Time: 1 hour

Watch a video overview:

What You'll Need

glow-skull-step1 Before you begin, make sure you have all the supplies you'll need. The list below contains all the products we used to create the example shown in this demo. Materials are optional based upon your own design.

1. Prep and Plan

glow-skull-step2 Create a sketch or print a pattern to assist with sizing and layout. Trim away any negative space.

2. Measure and Cut

glow-skull-step3 Use the pattern as a guide and begin cutting strips of tape slightly longer than your image. Keep the strips in this order to avoid confusion.

3. Overlapping Layers

glow-skull-step4 Remove the tape backing and slightly overlap the strips of tape in rows to form the base of your design. Adhere the tape to a non-porous surface for easy removal. We used a black canvas panel for our background, but the tape can be adhered to glass or mirrors as well.

4. Trace and Trim!

glow-skull-step5 Trace the outer edges of the pattern on top of the taped layers with a pencil. Now peel the tape off the surface, while still making sure the overlapped strips are joined from the previous step - and trim the edges.

5. Transfer Design

glow-skull-step6a Using a pencil, shade the back of your initial pattern. Place the newly shaded side down on top of the layered tape and trace the shapes of your image. This will transfer part of the graphite onto the tape for you to follow while painting.

6. Ink It Up

glow-skull-step7 Use permanent (waterproof) India ink to darken areas of the design. Dilute ink with water as desired. Ink straight from the bottle or with a dab of additional water to provide solid coverage. The non-porous surface creates a variety of textures based on the amount of water. Therefore, If you add a bit more water, the ink forms grays and may bead up a bit on the smooth surface of the tape. Try different techniques: blotting with paper towel, smudging, dry brush.

ARTISTIC TIP: This ink is removable while wet and can be partially rubbed away from the tape with a damp paper towel after it dries.

glow-skull-step8 Project can be lifted and repositioned once completely dry. Display on windows, mirrors, or other surfaces without direct contact to water. Use caution if applying to painted walls – especially flat interior paints. Peel up and place on non-porous surface to store for next year’s decoration.

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