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Thread: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

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    Default Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Warning: i do not know if there any side effects of doing this, so do this at your own risk. this is for dip pens, DO NOT do this with a fountain pen.
    ive seen acrylic suggestions but watercolor seems to work better if you do it right and it washes off your nib easier if it happens to dry.
    ok, so here is what youll need:
    -watercolor paint(the cake ones, like the ones you wet to get the paint. i used prang semi wet ones, dont know how well others will work)
    -a medium sized brush, around a 4-6
    -water, of course
    -corn syrup or similar(i used corn starch, like i said, im not sure how well other substances will work)
    -a palette or similar grooved surface to hold the liquidy inky watercolor in place and not dribble everywhere. you dont want to be mixing the cornstarch onto your paint cakes!
    ok, so heres what you do.
    before we start.... you dont need enough to dip your pen!
    wet your brush and tap off excess water, then swirl your brush in the paint of choice, then deposit onto palette. this is where you can mix your colors etc, following the same rule of minimal water.
    wash the brush in the water, then use it to transfer a small amount of corn starch to the watercolor. i had a size 4 brush and dipped it completely in the starch, but it may vary.
    then dip and clean your brush again, then take it out of the water and use the wet brush to mix the concoction.\
    after you have done this, use the brush to "paint" the watercolor onto the nib (sounds time consuming but it isnt really) making sure you coat it and it sticks in the reservoir.
    write it up! when it runs out, just recoat your brush with paint and paint the nib again. when you are dun dont forget to rinse your nib and the brush.
    ok... so heres some problems you may have. if the concoction doesnt stick in the reservoir, then you may need to thicken it by adding more cornstarch or more thick paint(not watered down paint, like i said twist the brush in the paint cake). if it is sticking but not flowing, add more water. i have not perfected a process of this yet.
    i am fairly sure you can use tubed watercolor and dilute it, add cornstarch etc. but you might be able to get a larger amount of ink that way that you dont have to worry about drying out.
    of course its not on par with real ink but its pretty cool.
    alright... i hoped this helped...
    here is a pic of 3 colors i made:

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    i confirmed... it doesnt work with tube watercolor. it may, but i havent gotten it to.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    I've heard of people making dip pen ink with food coloring but not with watercolor paint. Nice colors, keep us updated.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    welll. ive covered everything XD
    there might be more to discover but this is about all that there is. may put up pics of interesting colors though!

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    ok so it seems it would be nicer to use powdered gum arabic instead of cornstarch, and another thing, if the paint with cornstarch in it dries its a bit harder to get off than regular watercolor. not like scrape off, but maybe sponge off.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    I love these sorts of ideas so I tested some tube watercolor by just adding water and it works pretty well. Gum Arabic might make it even better.



    JBBPensPaper an Etsy store

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by jbb View Post
    I love these sorts of ideas so I tested some tube watercolor by just adding water and it works pretty well. Gum Arabic might make it even better.



    AWESOME!
    im not sure... howd you get them to mix so well? mine came out very watery looking and my tube watercolor didn't mix well with the water.
    great job, what did yyou use to thicken it?

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Daniel Smith Ultramarine Turquoise from a tube and dried in a pan produced a lovely blue that worked fine with a Brause italic nib. Watercolor paper has too much tooth for the nib but anything fit for pens won't have that issue though it might buckle from the water. Does corn starch reduce that problem?

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by Margana View Post
    Daniel Smith Ultramarine Turquoise from a tube and dried in a pan produced a lovely blue that worked fine with a Brause italic nib. Watercolor paper has too much tooth for the nib but anything fit for pens won't have that issue though it might buckle from the water. Does corn starch reduce that problem?
    the corn starch is added to get the ink to stick inside the reservior... it wasnt working for my cake paint. probably the same effect as adding gum arabic(i think). it doesnt really affect the paper, even ink would bend the paper if you painted it on. its just do to writing drying in small bits is whas keeping it from buckling.
    i will have to retry the tube paints...
    maybe i did something wrong. not sure, it was mainly with troubles mixing the paint to the water.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Thanks, Pingo5. The nib I used has an overfeed so holding a decent amount of watercolor wasn't a problem.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    ah ok... overfeed? im new to dip pens, im curious what that is.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    An overfeed is a piece that goes on top of the nib to hold more ink.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by Pingo5 View Post
    AWESOME!
    im not sure... howd you get them to mix so well? mine came out very watery looking and my tube watercolor didn't mix well with the water.
    great job, what did yyou use to thicken it?
    I just added a bit of water to the watercolor and mixed it all with a toothpick. I didn't thicken it at all. BTW, I've never heard of using cornstarch is that commonly done?
    JBBPensPaper an Etsy store

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by Margana View Post
    An overfeed is a piece that goes on top of the nib to hold more ink.
    oh ok.... thanks! was wondering.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by jbb View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Pingo5 View Post
    AWESOME!
    im not sure... howd you get them to mix so well? mine came out very watery looking and my tube watercolor didn't mix well with the water.
    great job, what did yyou use to thicken it?
    I just added a bit of water to the watercolor and mixed it all with a toothpick. I didn't thicken it at all. BTW, I've never heard of using cornstarch is that commonly done?
    oh ok... thanks for that help too. with the cornstarch, it was just a quick thing i came up with. probably not well known but it seemed to work a bit for me.

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Watercolors normally have gum Arabic in them already. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercolor_painting After using my watercolor & water mixture for a couple of days I think watercolors are a good way to add some extra colors to your dip pen ink collection particularly if you happen to already own the watercolors. After a while of playing around I mixed my watercolor ink with some iron gall ink that was on my desk and came up with a lovely dark teal blue.
    JBBPensPaper an Etsy store

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    Default Re: Watercolor Dip pen ink!

    Quote Originally Posted by jbb View Post
    Watercolors normally have gum Arabic in them already. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercolor_painting After using my watercolor & water mixture for a couple of days I think watercolors are a good way to add some extra colors to your dip pen ink collection particularly if you happen to already own the watercolors. After a while of playing around I mixed my watercolor ink with some iron gall ink that was on my desk and came up with a lovely dark teal blue.
    awesome! i didnt know that, maybe im just using too much water

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