They must have used oil base paints because that's all they had. Probably what portraits and landscape artists use. You could shoot a thin layer of primer first. Of course paint will muffle the head, but that may be a good thing.

I've attached a pic of my kick drum head - I'm not happy about it but it is the last plastic head on my set - a Ludwig timp head, very thin with hardly any collar height. The drum is a 26" 70's Slingerland Frankenstein model.

You can see the light in the drum, I tried to make it look like the moon. It was patterned off of a painting my Grandfather did in the 1950's of Diamond Head in Waikiki. I traced it off of his painting, and to make the palm tree and Diamond Head design I cut out a thin towel and glued it to the inside of the head with contact cement.

I use it for a logo for other stuff i've made, and have thought it would be pretty cool to get a rubber stamp made up so I could stamp my calf heads with it. I mean, people do have custom sticks, but how many guys have there own drumheads? Guaranteed chick magnet. :D

Clever idea with the cloth and whatnot.

I guess I was wondering what paint would stand up to the tension of the head without cracking. Maybe tension the head and paint it while its on the drum? My son who is an artist suggested acrylics, any thoughts?

Thanks

Here's a link, not about the type of paint, but the application.

Link.................

Scroll down to post six.

Thanks folks!