Paint Pens

[Lou Ann]

I was wondering what paint pens you painters use, if any...

I currently have the elmer's opaque painter's pen that I bought for something else and just realized would work on glass; however, I have read online at an art supply place that they have been discontinued -- can't find confirmation through elmer's yet.

I have seen the "Decocolor Acrylic Paint Markers" and "Pebeo Vitrea 160 Paint Markers" on Blick Art supplies but didn't know if one was better than the other. I do not have a kiln so they either need to go on permanent or bake in the oven. The Pebeo review was horrible there, plus I trust you guys more than strangers to tell the truth. I was also reading on Michael's and found that these two are transparent but "Liquitex Glossies" and "Delta PermEnamel" are opaque -- if it matters, I will painting with red on yellow glass...

My dilemma is I need to find something that is readily available (not discontinued before I even get started) as I could be required to make many versions of the item I need them for and I don't want to complete the first order and not be able to get the paint when a second order comes in...

thanks
Lou Ann

[Judy K]

I used Pebeo before I bought my kiln. they worked fine for me. I think I liked the paint in the jar better than the pens. It has been a long time.

Transparent vs opaque does make a difference depending on your project. Since it is red over yellow either may be fine. If it were yellow over red the transparent would not work for you. The red glass would be stronger than the yellow and show through. Opaque does not let the glass color show through the paint.

Good Luck

[ct4mom]

I purchased the paint for painting on glass from JoAnn, ACMoore etc. you can bake it in the oven for a while to set it. It is fairly cheap and with the thin brush it works great. It is made by plaid.

[Anne]

I think I've seen the Plaid paint at Michael's too LA. Don't know anything about it though so I'm not much help.

[Lou Ann]

thanks guys...

I've tried the plaid and couldn't get a good consistent coat - was probably using the wrong type brush...

given that the area I am going to be painting is only about 1" x .75", I think it would be easier to make a stencil and use the markers

[Kev]

I think using a stencil is a good way to go with this. It will give you more consistent results.

[PiscesGlass]

This is great feedback...and I'm interested in what works the best also, for someone that doesn't have a kiln (yet...)  I've used the black Pebeo paint pen, but it was only for small details, and it seemed to work fine.  However, I don't think I'd want to have to cover too much territory with the paint pen..I didn't find that it was very consistant.

I'll be painting smallish lettering for a sign, I was planning to etch the lettering first and then paint it, as I'd heard that the paint would adhere better, and last longer.  Although this project will probably not be touched once it's hung so I'm not too worried that the lettering will be scraped off.

So any feedback is good feedback!

De

[Lou Ann]

However, I don't think I'd want to have to cover too much territory with the paint pen..I didn't find that it was very consistant.

De,

What type of area were you covering that you found the markers inconsistent? Also, which markers did you use? I ask because I used the brush on paints to paint the number 300 on something (each number was about 1.5" tall) and was very unhappy with the consistency -- in retrospect I may have had the wrong paint or wrong brush -- I was painting silver on cobalt blue and it came out horrible...

what I'm painting now is a small red cross about 1" x .75" (could be slightly larger on a couple of the items) on yellow glass and I need consistency as well as paint that is going to be readily available for future orders

[Judy K]

Can you buy small amounts at your local hobby store of several brands and try them out?

[PiscesGlass]

I wasn't using brush on paint..it was Pebeo paint pen (or marker), all I was doing with it was drawing on door handles, was intending to also draw in windshield wipers on a car I did.  But it took a couple of trys to get the paint to adhere correctly.  I will say that on that project I didn't etch the glass in any way.  I'm going to try that next time and see if my results are different.  They were very tiny areas I was trying to paint.

De

[Lou Ann]

I wasn't using brush on paint..it was Pebeo paint pen (or marker), all I was doing with it was drawing on door handles, was intending to also draw in windshield wipers on a car I did.  But it took a couple of trys to get the paint to adhere correctly.  I will say that on that project I didn't etch the glass in any way.  I'm going to try that next time and see if my results are different.  They were very tiny areas I was trying to paint.

De

thanks De,

I tried the elmer's painters pens last night and the red worked wonderfully; however, I later read online that those pens have been discontinued (not sure if it is all colors or just a select few)...

I think I'll do some more research and see what other options might be out there because the Pebeo pens aren't cheap and the area you were trying to cover would have been a lot easier to draw in than the cross I'm looking at so I really don't want to buy something the probably won't work