How to start your Paint Pens

Lets chat how to start your pens

1. PEEL the plastic off your pen, there is a reason why!

Many people twist the plastic off and that action can loosen the pen barrel off from the tip area with the lid.
If you twist them apart slightly then they can separate when shaking and that means paint – EVERYWHERE

You cannot know that manufacturers have tightly screwed the pen together.

2. SHAKE and we’re saying shake like you never have before hahaha.

This will be the best exercise you have had this week for upper arm strength. Each pen needs a few minutes each – brand dependent. There is no such thing as over shaking. You should be hearing the sound of the metal ball inside.

The content of the pen is acrylic paint which is a variety of binders and pigments these need to be combined. When the contents are combined only then will they perform as they were intended to.

3. BURP just like a newborn baby your pens need to be burped every now and then.

Hold the pen tip side up and press the tip in a few times, this releases any air and pressure built up in the barrel.

It is always good to do this when they are new as well as after you have travelled with them. I travel with mine on a plane and always burp them before I use them again. A friend has a cabin high in the mountains and has to do the same . Altitude is one thing that can create a pressure build up in the pen. This helps avoid a huge puddle of paint leaking out.

4.PRIME the pen to start getting the paint to flow. Gently pushing up and down on the nib/tip this releases a valve in the barrel. When the nib is pushed in towards the barrel this releases the paint flow to saturate the nib.

Pressing the nib in for too long at once will cause an overload of paint to puddle out. To get best results it is better to gently push up and down. You will see the paint start to flow slowing down the tip, keep going until it is all saturated in paint.

DID YOU KNOW

Mitsubishi Pencil ( The manufacturers of Posca Pens) have developed a unique valve mechanism that guarantees a perfect seal for the marker and conserves the paint over time. The same mechanism is used to prime the POSCA for use and to re-saturate the tip as often as necessary during creation.

GRAB SOME POSCA PENS HERE
Click here – Australia
Click here – USA & other

5. TEST the flow of your pen – but NOT on your masterpiece. Grab a test rock and squiggle your pen a few times to test the flow.

6. CAP your pen after you have finished colouring the area you are working on. DO not leave them uncapped on the work bench for too long as you do not want paint drying on the tip.