>>2556692
I'd probably go with some permanent markers, but I have no idea if that's the best way. Airbrush is good too, but it's costly and can be hard if you gon't have enough experience with it. Using stencils and some ordinary spray paint might be okay too. Just get something that's both peperment and doesn't layer too much. You might also invest in some quality fixative.
Honestly, I think you should just buy a plank of wood (or a few), some acrylic spray paint (or whatever they paint guitars with), paint that shit and when it dries try whatever you want.

But most importantly - DON'T experiment on the guitar itself, don't paint on it unless you're sure what you're doing - try the techniques on that plank beforehand.

>>2556692
Pic looks like someone printed the painting on a sticker desu

>>2556773
I did the spraypaint process before like this guy said OP.

What I did was covered my canvas in a layer of masking tape(like masking tool in Photoshop). In this case you wrap the whole area you will be painting in a layer of masking tape.

Draw your design on the masking tape layer and use an exacto knife to extract the image. Then all you have to do is paint.

Usually painting shit like this is 90% preparation so take that into consideration. This also helps for the sharpest lines. If you find it tedious you can always use brushes with spraypaint by spraying some on a wooden or plastic palette to work with.

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>>2556773
Thanks for the input, I've heard a lot of people mention airbrushes because I assume they are the industry standard for jobs like this, however I don't own any of the necessary equipment so I can't take that route.

Again with spray paint, it's a format that I've never used before (I'm a printmaker first and foremost, in fact the client actually asked me to use a linocut on his guitar but that's completely out of the question), would you say it's relatively easy to pick up or will it take a lot of dedicated practice to get used to how the paint speads?

>>2556778
IIRC that image is actually sharpie art on the surface of the guitar (I've considered using Sharpies but there are so many conflicting reports on how permanent they actually are when the guitar is used regularly - I imagine the guitar in the OP is more of a display piece), but I've heard that you can get plain decal stickers that you can draw directly on then stick on the guitar, the only problem with those though is that I feel that the final piece might end up looking more like a cheap sticker just stuck on the surface.

>>2556843
Do you mean to say that you've painted onto a guitar before using this technique, or a similarly glossy surface?

Either way I've read that some people swear by sanding the surface first before even touching the thing with paint, is this correct? If so I think I'll turn this commission down as I'm not yet comfortable enough with my woodworking skills that I'd be able to sand the finish without also damaging the body or original paintjob.

If sanding isn't a requirement though then the idea of stenciling might be a better route to take, as I imagine it'll help with my control over spraypaint seeing as how I've never used it before. Would artists tape not make for a better masking material though? Pretty much all of the masking tape that I've used in the past tends to peel away quite easily leaving the door open for the paint to run.

>>2557295
without a doubt you will have to prime the surface of the guitar before using any type of airbrush or spray paint that you want to stay on the guitar permanently. you will also have to relacqer the guitar after the painting is done as well

i would super highly suggest turning down this commission and referring them to someone who is very experienced with woodwork if you know of any, the amount of practice it'd take to acquire the skill to even do this remotely half decently is not worth what they probably want to pay you

>>2557299
Thanks for being honest, the last thing I need when I'm trying to start up professionally is a bad commission, I'd hate to give someone a poor product because of my own inexperience.

I'm going to scour youtube to see if there are any alternative techniques but other than that I'll probably turn the guy down. I don't know anyone that has the credentials to deal with this type of commission unfortunately, it's a shame I can't pass this job onto someone else because it sounded like a fun project.

Just wanted to give a bit of closure to the thread - I turned the commission down in the end. Thanks for everyone's input, glad I didn't bite off more than I could chew.

>>2556692
That looks like sgraffito but I could be wrong.

>>2557295
This is airbrush which is probably the most popular method since its application is smooth. any other method will leave a texture that probably should be avoided.

The sgraffito method is probably re-lacquered.

>>2558733
Even though I already turned down the client I'm definitely going to keep sgraffito in the back of my mind - I've seen it done on pottery before but never knew the name, I really like the effect though!

depends on the guitar, if it's a blank (meaning unfinished wood) then you should be able to paint on it with acrylics or oil paint. All the other options are viable as well if it's unfinished wood.