glow in the dark

A: What a great idea! When my son was young, I did a starfield on his ceiling but just used stick-on stars. Not remotely realistic. Here are some thoughts on the subject:

Although my chalk technique would work (at least theoretically), there are some problems with blowing chalk dust onto a ceiling to create a random-looking starfield.

First, it would be extremely messy, as a lot of the chalk would fall back down to the ground. And it would be difficult to “fix” the chalk so that it would be permanent. I suppose you could spray some kind of clear coat over it, but I’m not sure how it would look on your ceiling.

Second, without fixing the chalk, it would smear anytime something brushed against it. (Not that a lot of things will brush the ceiling, but you’d never be able to dust or clean it without erasing or smearing the chalk.)

Third, because some of the pigment is toxic, I don’t think I’d want that dust on a children’s room, where they might breathe it if it gets stirred up.

A Better Solution: Phosphorescent Glow Paint

Here’s a better way to create that effect:

If I were doing it, I’d probably use phosphorescent glow paint rather than chalk. You could get a similar, random effect by using a stiff bristle brush and spattering the paint on the ceiling. (This is a common technique of watercolorists. You load paint onto the toothbrush and rake your fingernail across it to spatter it on the paper or canvas.)

You can buy good quality phosphorescent paint from: artnglow.com.

The paint will need to be “charged” to make the entire starfield glow. You can do this with a black light or strong sunlight (if the room has a lot of windows).

Here’s a short video I found that compares different varieties of glow paint:

And for those who haven’t seen it, here’s my video about how to create a star-field on paper with chalk: