Neon drawing on a black canvas

Why draw on black?

On white paper, bright colours look flat. On black paper they light up — the same magenta that looks pink on white looks like a neon tube on black. This canvas opens with black paper and Glow switched on, so each stroke gets a soft halo in its own colour. Turn Glow off for crisp lines on black.

How to make neon look real

1. Thin linesReal neon is a tube, not a fill. Keep the brush between 4 and 10px.
2. A white coreDraw a line in colour, then trace a thinner white line down its centre. That bright core is what makes neon convincing.
3. Few coloursTwo or three neon colours — magenta, cyan and yellow — look better than a rainbow.
4. Continuous strokesNeon signs are bent from one tube. Join letters in a single flowing line where you can.

Neon drawing ideas

• A neon sign of your name, a word like OPEN, or a coffee cup.
• A city skyline with glowing windows.
• A night sky with constellations — use the star tutorial for the shapes.
• A jellyfish or a glowing deep-sea fish.
• A heart outlined three times in different colours.
• Fireworks: dots and short radiating lines in several colours.

For more, try the random idea generator and draw the result in neon.

Take it further

The Draw Anything app adds the Rainbow Pencil, which cycles through the spectrum as you draw — spectacular on a black canvas — and Gravity Lines, which make strokes fall away like sparks.