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When I first started playing with brush pens, I had no idea that you could do more than ‘just’ letter with them. Over the last few months I’ve had a play with different products and explored ways to use them. Dom recently loaned me her Ecoline packs and I had so much fun trying various styles.
1. Watercolour doodles
One of my new favourite things to do when using a brush pen for the first time is to do a watercolour swatch and doodle over the top (see also my Karin and Sakura Koi reviews). I love these colour themed packs.
Beige Pink | Get yours from:
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Pastel | Get yours from:
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Earth | Get yours from:
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Yellow | Get yours from:
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Violet | Get yours from:
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Red | Get yours from:
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Green | Get yours from:
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Grey | Get yours from:
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Green Blue | Get yours from:
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Blue | Get yours from:
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I found some colours a bit faint (Beige Pink), some a bit samey (grey) but some I really loved, like the Green Blue, Earth, Yellow, and Violet. Oh, and while we’re talking watercolour, it’s also worth noting that the only thing I watercolour on is the Ecoline watercolour paper (available at Craft Stash, WHSmith and Amazon).
2. Blended lettering (pens)
I was fascinated by images of blended lettering on Instagram long before I learned to do it myself – and there are loads of tutorials to help you get to grips with it. Whether you want to blend different shades of the same colour or go for a clash, there’s plenty of fun to be had.
3. Watercolour background
I went through a bit of phase of doing a fair few of these. Top tip: if you want to create a boxed image, just add some washi to your paper to create straight lines.
If you want to try something a bit different, rather than putting your paintbrush straight on the page, drop your colour on a piece of acetate or similar and press it onto the page. You get something different every time.
Of course, there are loads of ways to blend watercolours. I also recently became a bit obsessed with jellyfish watercolours after coming across a doodle in my Journal With Purpose book.
4. Paint with inks
Wow, painting with ink is so different to brush pens. Check out the vibrancy of these beauties.
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Craft Stash
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If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I’m a tad obsessed with autumn at the mo, so I’ll be cracking out my autumn pens a lot over the next few weeks.
Get yours from:
Craft Stash
WHSmith
Amazon
5. Blended lettering (ink)
There are so many ways to blend colours when you’re lettering. If you’re not doing tip-to-tip with pens, dipping a pen in the ink creates a fantastic effect. I used my Pentel Touch Signs pens for this and I love playing with similar shades. Just look at the shimmer on the gold!
I’m also still really into clashing colours for mermaid and unicorn lettering. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of these!
What do you think? Do you have a preferred method? Or a colour theme? They certainly help if you prefer to theme your bujo spreads or lettering projects.
If you’re looking for a bargain, Craft Stash currently have 20% when you sign up to their newsletter and WHSmith are running a 3 for 2 offer on their arts and crafts supplies. Best stock up now, ey?!