Production Post - Paint Pens

I didn't know there was such a thing as 'paint pens', but there is!

Why this is of relevance to me and my figure painting is that you may remember the problems I had when I tried out 'permanent markers' for drawing on fine detail. The issue seemed to be the type of varnish I prefer to use for glossing my soldiers, it's an aerosol spray which I believe contains a propellant which contains some form of spirit...The result was that my pen ink lines bled! :(

The result of using 'permanent' ink pens in combination
with my usual spray on gloss lacquer.

Anyway, I happened to be talking to a fellow 'creative' (who also paints on wood) and she used a brand of pen called Posca and suggested that I give them a try. I was skeptical, but painting on fine lines on my peg figures by brush is such a pain - especially as I'm getting older and my line painting is getting wobbly - that I thought it was worth a punt.

The slight downside is that the Posca pens are a wee bit expensive (£2.99 a pop) but in for a penny in for a pound, so I painted up a test piece of wood...

I managed to afford two 'extra-fine' nibbed pens (a black and a white) and a 'fine' white as well. White is quite important for contrast outlining on dark colours, but pens are also great for doing dots!

For a test, I just scribbled some lines and squiggles (and dots) on the board...

And now the tense bit...The varnishing.

I should explain, I do like using aerosol lacquer as it give a nice smooth thin and even coat. However, there is a downside - apart from this pen problem - and that is spraying is a little wasteful as about half your spray doesn't hit your model and ends up in the back of your spray booth.

There is a forthcoming test using some brush on varnish, but liquid varnish has it's own drawbacks. We shall see.

But, in the meantime, my spray test had me holding my breath as I sprayed...

No bleed! Very good news.

Were I picky (and I am) I would say that the lines aren't quite as opaque as using normal acrylic paint with a brush - the black looks a little faded - but this is a minor point compared to the convenience of drawing lines with a pen.

Now, I think I should try out a these pens on a live project and I think I have the ideal model for trying them out on!