custom paintjob on an acoustic guitar: need some advice

[MF]

has anybody done this before?

i'm getting my girlfriend to create a design to go on my acoustic. it's a dreadnaught style with a flat top and i've asked her to design it like a stamp or silhouette with just 1 color, likely black but maybe an earthy red and to treat it like a tattoo (but no shading, just solid color and negative space). So the design will be colored and the original wood will be the negative space.

So from a practical standpoint, what would be the best option for getting the design onto my guitar? silkscreen? get a vinyl sticker printed? hand painted? and would i need to put any lacquer or anything over the finished paint if i went that route? i would prefer a method that i could do myself with minimal ease so airbrushing is probably out of the question.

 

[BTC-Ax20]

I've thought about doing this with some of my solid body electric guitars. If I were to do it, I would go the vinyl sticker route. That way, if you make a mistake, you haven't ruined you're guitars finish. Keep us updated on your progress. I'd love to see what you come with and how you went about it.

 

[MF]

will do. here is the guitar. my first step was to take the current stickers off it...which was no small task as they've been on there since the late nineties. it took about an hour of peeling and cleaning with a couple different non-chemical cleaners but i got all the gunk off but i'm now left with two slightly faded squares where the stickers were :lol: .

the guitar itself is somewhat beat up anways so i'm not overly concerned with protecting the finish, though i'd like to avoid any unnecessary abuse.

i'll update once i move on to the next phase of my project. i still need to come up with a design!