Hi everybody! I just wanted to make a little post about how cool and fun watercolor brush pens are, because I think they are being slept on.
I love them because i think they are a fun low effort way to color your doodles, and are ridiculously cheap. A full set is like $15, and these things last really long as well.
They are also more versatile than alcohol based markers, since being watercolors, it is possible to ~dilute~ them, giving you access to a way larger scale of values from just a single pen, whereas with markers you would have to either buy darker values, because marker layering only takes you so far.
The downside is that again being watercolors, there's definitely a learning curve! You're going to have to learn about water control, the act of being aware how much water you are bringing in with the brush, and how much water already exists on the page, and how fast it's drying!
NOTE: you should buy nylon brush tip watercolor pens. This technique works very poorly if at all with hard felt tip watercolor pens, so in my opinion, just don't buy those. Always go for nylon brush tips.
The first technique you should learn to get started, is diluting the brush tip! Undiluted you'll notice that the color is quite strong, and it layers awkwardly. Simply submerging the tip works somewhat, but you'll get best results by tapping the tip against a surface underwater. If you don't have a palette like pictured, just a bit of water on a shallow plate will work just as well.
After dilution, not only will you have less pigment on the tip, but also more water, so your colors will be much gentler, and will blend nicely, hiding individual brush strokes. Notice that the paint will be continuously flowing out from the pen, so as you use the brush the color will slowly return to its normal value, so if you are looking for a perfectly even color, you need to re-dilute the tip between brush strokes, almost like reapplying ink to a pen.
Of course, another way is to lean into the effect, and use the nice gradients it gives you.
Here's one more example of my work using them!
They unfortunately are not refillable, so they will run out eventually, but I think that is balanced by how cheap they are to get, and how long they last in use. I've been using these weekly for around 8 months now, and I've yet to run out of a single one! But eventually that day will of course come, and I'll have to get a new set.
Furthermore, I'm not claiming these are a substitute for block or tube watercolors and regular brushes. In fact I'm saying they are not. They are simply a different way of using watercolors, but one that I think is really fun!!
In conclusion, I really love these type of watercolor brush pens, and I think a lot of others would too if they knew about them!
