5 steps for handpainting on jeans

STEP 1: Tape around the pocket

Choose which pocket you want to paint on and tape around it. You want to get underneath the edges of the pocket to make sure the paint does not get onto that part. I have used both blue painters tape and artists’ tape, but I’ve found artists tape peels off much more easily.

The white tape is also better to accurately see the paint colors you are using.

STEP 2: Paint the Base coat(s)

Paint the whole pocket with 1-2 layers of white acrylic paint. You should not be able to see blue jean color coming through.

This base paint will make the colors POP instead of blending into the blue denim. It also creates a barrier so the colors do not soak into the denim.

Some acrylic paints are transparent, which means whatever they are painted onto shows through. If you try and paint a transparent yellow onto blue denim, you will end up with greenish-yellow and the denim peeking through.

STEP 3: Draw Your Design

Usually, this is the step where I draw my design/image onto the white background.

With these jeans, I painted the background first because of how detailed the flowers were. I have also painted this painting by drawing the outline onto the white and painting the background around it, which actually worked better than painting the background first.

Use a thin black pen that will draw easily onto your (fully dry) painted pocket. I used a Faber Castell PITT artists’ pen, but it can get worn down easily if the jeans are rough-textured. I no longer use this pen.

STEP 4: Begin to paint!

Once you have all your lines drawn in, you can start to paint your design! Squeeze out small amounts of paint on to your palette, fill your paint cup with water, and lay out a paper towel or rag to dry your brushes on.

Since I did the background first on this pair of jeans, I painted white onto the flowers so the yellow would stand out and not blend with the aqua color. If you are painting from a reference photo, print it out or open the photo on your computer so you can have it close by.

Having issues with the black showing though? Use a bit of white mixed into your color to make it more opaque and paint on multiple layers until the black pen no longer shows through.

As you can see, I go a bit outside the lines so the tape is really useful. I made halfway marks on the tape which help me keep the image proportional and accurate. Everyone will have their own way of painting and that’s okay!

Step 5: Peel off the tape

Let your painting completely dry (at least 24 hours) and then slowly peel off the tape. This is my favorite part because it is so satisfying to peel and it cleans up the painting so nicely- like magic!