White markers
they're not just great for lettering, they are also great for covering up
mistakes or adding highlights or accents to your coloring pages.
And in today's video,
I am going to show you my top 10 tips for getting the most out of your white pens.
Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm here to teach you
how to be more creative every day. In my last video, I compared all the white
pens I could find to work out which ones were the best to use on coloring pages,
on paper, on Washi tape and a few other mediums as well.
Today, I'm going to show you some tips
and tricks to get them working the best for you.
I've also created a written version of this on my blog so you can see each
step and you can find out more about the markers I'm using.
Before we get started,
remember to like this video, press subscribe and turn on notifications.
So you'll be the first to know every time I put out a new video.
So my first tip is to choose the right pen.
Now, in my previous video, I tested all of the white pens that I had and I
copied how they all went on colored pencils, on markers, on both Copic, Sharpies
and TomBow markers and on Gel pens and on Washi tape.
And I discovered that some of the pens
that worked fantastic on the markers, worked terribly on the colored pencils.
So check out that video that can show you which pens are perfect for
whatever you're going to do.
If you're doing a lot of colored pencil work, then you might want to choose one
of the ones that did better on the colored pencils.
Out of my last video these were my favorites.
I had the Pentel Hybrid Gel DX,
which I was a big fan of. My Sakura Decorese it was very nice.
The Uni-ball Singo in the video, I actually reviewed one that was about four
years old and I've since bought another one and it definitely ranks in the top.
It is amazing.
I also had a paint marker
the Deleter Neopiko Line White was my favorite paint marker at the end of it.
So in today's video,
I'm going to mostly be talking about tips to do with what Gel pens.
But a lot of those tips also apply
to the white paint markers, they are fantastic for doing highlights.
You also want to decide what size marker you want
because some of these have a very thin line and some have a very thick line.
So you might actually like to have a few in your range for different options.
And again, in my last video and blog post, I detailed all these pens so you can
actually see which ones are the right size for the project that you're wanting to do.
Number two is always keep a scrap piece of paper with you and draw on it first.
It helps to get the ball rolling,
it makes sure that it runs smoothly and it gets the ink moving evenly so you don't
end up with any big blobs or missing lines.
It's just a great idea and I actually like to do this throughout my work as well.
Tip number three is use light pressure and work in small sections at a time,
if your pen starts skipping or doesn't work as well, go back to your scrap paper
or rub it on your hand and have another go.
As long as you keep doing little sections at a time, you should be able to keep
a smooth flow, even if you're working on something difficult like colored pencils.
Tip number four is go slowly.
It will give you a much thicker, more vibrant line.
It really gets a lot more gel on the paper.
And as you become more comfortable
with your pen, you can start to experiment with your speed.
You can start to work a little bit faster and you can actually start to use
that speed to create different lines or tapered lines for things like stars.
Tip number five is to let your work dry, don't lean on the areas with your hand,
or it will smudge while the white ink is still wet.
That's the same whether you're using a gel pen or paint marker.
So make sure you let it dry completely before you go over it for a second coat or
with anything else or even resting your hands on it.
Tip number six, if you are wanting a brighter white,
what for your work to dry and then you can go over it again in a second layer.
Now, tip number seven is something I
personally like to do whenever I'm coloring, because sometimes after you've
put in hours of work on your page, you don't want to ruin it by adding
something new if you're feeling a bit uncertain.
So what I do is I scan it in and I make
a copy first and then I can work off my photocopied version,
which obviously isn't the same ink, it's not the same final page,
but it gives me a chance to do a test run before applying it to the final page.
So you can try different methods, you can try different outlines,
you can try doing things with your white pen that maybe you're not feeling brave
enough yet to do on the final page. If you're really clever,
You can even print at half size.
That way you're not using up as much ink in the process.
So tip number eight is don't go overboard.
Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take away.
So keep it simple, use your white pen in moderation.
And again, as we said in tip seven, make a copy if you want to do something
extravagant so that you don't mess up your original piece.
Remember, less is more.
If you do make a mistake, don't panic.
Instead of smudging it everywhere, just wait for it to dry and with some
markers you can actually scratch it off, especially on top of the wax pencils.
Even if it doesn't scratch off, it's OK.
You can go back over the top of your white
marker with your original medium, whether it's pens or pencils or whatever.
Look, it might take a few layers, but you will be able to cover it up.
So please don't panic, but definitely try scratching it off.
I was quite surprised at how easily my white pen scratched off of my pencils.
Now for my tenth tip, I want to talk about storage.
Now, I looked everywhere on the Internet for this because I've never really been sure.
Do we store pens upright?
Do we store them horizontally?
Do we store them with the nib down?
Now, when it comes to gel pens, there are so many opinions.
A lot of people are saying store them down.
Other people are saying don't store them down.
You wreck the nibs, other people say store them up because they're pressurized,
and it doesn't matter, other people say, store them flat because then it'll stop
all the ink getting air bubbles and stuff like that.
At the end of the day, I could not find any exact advice from any
of the manufacturers that gave a clear answer to this,
which tells me maybe it doesn't matter as much as what people think it does,
because if all of these artists use different approaches and are convinced
that their approach is keeping the gel pens lasting long, maybe they all work.
Maybe there is no secret to storing them properly.
The one tip that I will say is whatever you do, make sure you keep the lids
on whenever you're not using them, because that will help them to stay sealed.
It will help them not to get exposed to air so that the gel doesn't dry out.
And to finish up today's video
with my final tip, if you gel pen does get clogged like my good old trusty four year
old Signo, go back to the scrap paper, keep working away at it.
Keeps scribbling until you can get some movement out of it.
Otherwise, you can also try cleaning the nib.
Often it is a case of the gel just drying up on the nibs.
You can do this just with a cloth.
If that's not enough and you still can't
get it working, you can give it a slight tap on the paper.
But please don't take it a lot or don't
tap it too hard because you will damage the nib and shaking
It might actually create some extra air bubbles.
So just give it light tap with the lid on.
Keep trying to run on the scrap paper.
If that's not working for you, try it on your hand, try it on some wood.
That can also get it going sometimes.
And if it's still really not working, you can also try cleaning it by putting it
in some warm water or putting it under the steam of your kettle.
Or I've even heard some people suggest that you can use very little amount
of rubbing alcohol on the tip to try and get rid of that clogged up ink on the end.
Now, as an extra little note, I've heard some people recommend if
the whole pan is dried up, that you can heat it up or that you can clean it out.
Look, these are approaches that I personally wouldn't recommend,
but you are welcome to try them, obviously you're doing that at your own risk
because trying to melt a pen can end very badly, as I'm sure you can imagine.
So I'll leave it to you if you want to try some of these other methods.
But rubbing it on the paper and trying
to clean the nib is definitely the best place to start.
And hopefully that will solve your clogging problems.
And if you want to show us what you've
been doing with your white pens, please head over to my free Facebook group.
I will put a link in the description.
I would love to hear from you and see what you're working on.
If you have any other tips that you'd love
to share with us or questions you have about using markers in different scenarios,
please pop in the comments below and I will do my best to help you.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope you found this video helpful.
Please take a moment to like and subscribe and turn on notifications and check out
some of the other videos that I have for you on my channel.