A composite article includes a lightning strike protection coating on a composite substrate. The lightning strike protection coating is formed from electrically conductive material and includes protrusions spaced along the length and width of a portion of the substrate surface. To form the lightning strike protection coating, a form is pressed against electrically conductive coating material on the composite substrate while the electrically conductive coating material is flowable. For example, the form can be a release film used in a composite vacuum bagging process. Suitable release film can have depressions along an inner surface that define an imprint of the coating protrusions. After curing, the coating can be covered with a layer of paint that conceals the protrusions but still allows lightning streamers to penetrate the paint at the protrusions.