How To Use Acrylic Paint Pens On Canvas

In today's world when there are lots of gadgets to be used for paintings, most artists prefer painting with paint pens over traditional brushes. There is a long story on how acrylic paint pens were discovered, how the artists created such pigments & now you can find these paint markers in different sizes of nibs and quality in almost every art supply store in the market. These paint markers have thick liquid fragranced paint suspended with the nib and start working just by tapping it on the surface a couple of times.

Now, if you're a beginner and planning to sketch an artwork fluently, here is what you need to know! Keep reading...

Do Acrylic Paint Pens Work On Canvas?

If we consider paint pens over paint brushed, they work extremely well on any kind of surface especially those canvases which are used as DIY artworks like nails, mugs, wood, glass, fabric. If we contemplate huge portraits, you must have seen artworks in your school libraries, drawing competitions, super marts glass doors, and signboards with plain or even gradient colored quotes, or random texts over them. Paint pens are also used on such canvases because of their pigments. They are un-faded, permanent, and shiny bright colors that look awesome on almost all surfaces. Although they are permanents, however on some surfaces, you can remove them with solutions like rubbing alcohol.

How To Use Acrylic Paint Pens On Portrait?

Before drawing anything, I highly recommend you to get a thin surface as a portrait no matter how big you go with it. Now for markers, you can choose whichever you usually use. Keep in mind, low-quality markers can ruin your multi-shaded painting. I recommend you to must try Drawlish paint markers. They work uniformly & don't leak or fade out.
You can start off by coating your new canvas and make a layer of gesso. It requires some time to make your canvas ready so do it a couple of hours before you want to paint.

When you think the portrait is ready to get started, begin with light sketching with a carbon pencil on your canvas. Make sure the sketched lines are light otherwise they will emerge onto the paint.

When your creativity is completely sketched onto the canvas, pick up a marker and stimulate it by shaking it & pressing it onto the canvas. During this session, the paint may leak onto the portrait but you can soak it up from the chips of paper or cotton. Don't squeeze the nib too strong or it will drop its shape. Now when all of the things are ready, paint with gentle hands using a light color. You can change the density later. Make sure to make the paint dark & sharp, you should never apply too much paint at first session otherwise it'll ruin your canvas.

Keep in mind, not all of the paint markers works the same. Some have vibrant and sharp color while other are for big canvas painter with different paint quality.

Are Paint Pens Safe For Kids?

Every paint either they are for wall, metal, or plastic, each of them has toxic chemicals like thinner or stripper which may consist of xylene, ethyl acetate, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, and glycol which are obviously harmful even not for kids but for adults as well. Long-period inhaling may cause internal damages. So, before refiling or maintaining your markers, make sure you use any disposable container.
Professional quality paint pens like Drawlish paint markers have ASTM D-4236 certification which are water based, unlike oil based markers. Drawlish paint pens are odorless and don't leak or fade. So any doubt about leaking the paint onto your hand is far away.