In which I explore the Sharpie Paint Marker

I finally got some time last night to noodle around with my new Sharpie Paint Markers. I first discovered these bad-boys while doing this embellished button project, and had to go acquire a bunch more colors.

(Interesting side note: In one of the Jo-Ann stores I shopped, these markers are out on a public shelf with the other paints. At another Jo-Ann, they were under lock and key and I had to sign a police department Graffiti Tools Registry in order to buy them.)

Anyway, I’m super excited about what these babies can do. (And no, I am not getting any promotional consideration from Sharpie here.) You should know that they come in a water-based variety, which is good for paper projects, and an oil-based variety, which I’m using here.

The oil-based pens produce an opaque, slightly glossy line. They work beautifully on lots of surfaces, as you’ll see here. (I adore my stapler now!)

I was really impressed by the opacity of the white paint on this red surface. And, the paint dries very quickly.

I also got great results on glass (and the metal tealight cup). I love the possibilities of glass – you can easily do some reverse painting by drawing on both sides. You could also draw a pretty frame right onto a mirror.

I found that these pens give nice coverage on a wooden surface – although, for an object like this wooden spoon that will see a lot of handling, I’d definitely apply some sealer over the paint.

(You may want to seal non-wood items, too – there’s more below on how the paint cleans up and rubs off.)

Here’s a scrap of tablecloth vinyl – it takes the pens nicely, too. This shows you how you can overlap colors. Imagine the possibilities here: you could customize a vinyl tote, or let your kids draw on a vinyl tablecloth and use it as a picnic blanket. You could probably also customize a pair of flip-flops. (Mental note: buy flip-flips immediately.)

And, you can draw right on a photo! I used the extra-fine point pens here (they also come in a fine point). Wow, does THIS unlock lots of artistic ideas! (Those are, by the way, either fireworks or giant invading spiders from Mars.)

This is a good moment to mention that the metallic pens have slightly uneven results. On some surfaces, the metallic sheen fades when the paint dries (on the tablecloth vinyl above, for example, the gold paint faded to a muddy beige). But you can try adding a second coat.

The second-coat trick works for the colors, too. This little soap dispenser is a long-ago IKEA purchase. Notice how the red lines have gotten muddy against the blue plastic. You can draw a second coat over the first and get much better opacity.

(In fact, take a look at my cell phone above – that flower was painted in several coats.)

I only had a couple fails, but they were born of pushing the material too hard. I thought it would be fun to draw on a pillar candle. This worked great at first, but the wax quickly clogged the pen tip.

. . . And fabric is a bit too porous for this material.

The paint is water-resistant, but I found that rubbing alcohol would remove it without a trace from most surfaces while it was still wet – so a moistened Q-Tip will take care of most mistakes as you’re drawing. Depending on the surface, you may be able to remove dried marks with the alcohol, too – but on some surfaces, I end up with a bit of color stain.

I’d recommend doing a little test on an inconspicuous area of your object before you get started: make a few little marks with the colors you plan to use, and then see how they rub out when they’re dry.

There are MSDS sheets and a bit more info at the Sharpie website. Have fun!

Tagged as: review