I painted this little screen.

I just used acrylic and it worked fine so I'm not going to be much help.
I think your screen is going to be a big factor in how it turns out. Maybe you need a smaller weave screen? Or I wonder if aluminum screening vs the new plastic screening would make a difference. Have you tried using a primer or even a flat spraypaint first to see if it would stick and then paint over that? I've heard house paint does really well too because it's thicker. I do know if you want all the holes filled it's gonna take quite a few coats.

There used to be a tutorial on painting screens. I'll have to look and see if I can find where that was. There is another girl here who paints screens. Maybe we can direct her over here to see if she knows why it's not sticking. Don't give up yet! ~Anj

Thanks for your tips. I hope that others post their ideas. I'm not giving up.

It's been awhile since I painted on a screen but I have done a few. I found it was easier to spray the screen with a lighter color of paint and go from there. It's harder to get a good coverage and be able to see the color changes if you're working with say a black screen. I did that the first time and my Americana flag was REALLY dark. The blue looked almost black, the red was really really deep in color and the white jumped out at you.

The whole thing with screen painting is that you don't fully cover every area. It's not supposed to all be one perfect shade done in 3 coats of paint. And if you try to make it perfect and not have a single hole with paint in it, you'll get frustrated and give up. It's just not supposed to be PERFECT.

Try spraying the whole piece when done with clear spray paint or some other spray sealer. That way the paint is sure to stay put :) I have a screen that I painted like a quilt piece hanging out on our shed and it's been there since last summer and is still bright in color because of the sealer :)