Hi everyone.
Today we are focussing on a product that's been around for a long time, but many of us have never heard or tried it. It's called Elegant Writer (by Speedball) and it is available at some art stores and through on-line shopping at Amazon and other places.
It is a marker that comes in a silver case. There are other Elegant Writer pens (black case) that are permanent black markers. These do not have the same qualities as the silver cased pens we are showcasing today.
Run the marker over a line stamp before stamping, or trace over a line image (either stamped or hand-drawn). It looks like black ink. But once you add water with a paint brush, the magic happens. The ink is water soluable, and adding water makes it run. Blot with a paper towel and you will see shades of pink, blue, purple, gray and green inks. It's a lot of fun to play with and makes very unique cards. We hope you'll give it a try.
If you do make cards, please join us by adding to the linky at the bottom of this post. We'd love to see what you make!!
Videos:
How to Use the Elegant Writer Pen by Karlyn Holman (23:24) - worth watching the whole video for lots of tips! Karlyn mentions in another video that the black of the elegant writer comes from combining green and red inks. This is why you will see both those colours when you add water with lighter versions if you blot with paper towel (turquoise and pink).
Vintage Watercolor Cake by Understand Blue (5:09)
Supplies:
- Watercolour Paper
- Speedball Elegant Writer Pen (extra fine tip - 1.3mm recommended) - make sure you get ones with a silver/gray casing on the pen. The black casing pens aren't water soluable.
- Watercolour Paint brushes
- Water Mister
- Tissue or paper towel
- Optional: Watercolour Paints or Inks for adding colour
Technique Instructions:
Following the video above ...
- Stamp an outline image lightly onto watercolour paper ... or draw your own image in pencil.
- Go over the outline using your extra fine tip Black Elegant Writer (you can use the side of the tip to get finer lines). A little goes a long way.
- Activate the watercolour lines using a watercolour brush and plain water. You can either watercolour the background with the Elegant Writer, or you can watercolour the inside of the image.
- Add some splatters of water if you wish.
- You do not have to activate all the lines of your drawing.
- Blot with a tissue or paper towel to remove excess water or to show more pink, blue, and purple inks.
- Once you have finished, lightly mist with water from high above your drawing. This will ensure that all the lines have be touched by water, but the light mist will not make the lines run. Let dry. It is now permanent.
- You can leave it as is or you can add some splashes of colour using watercolour paints or watersoluble inks.
Tips from Group of Seven:
- If you want to add just a little bit of colour from the elegant writer instead of outlining the image, use a damp brush to pick up colour directly from the Elegant Writer pen.
- Scribble elegant writer ink onto an acrylic block or acetate sheet and pick up the colour with a brush.
- Use the Elegant Writer to go over a line image stamp and then stamp directly onto your water-friendly paper. If the image is large, use the Elegant Writer on a section at a time so that the ink stays wet enough to stamp.
- Stamp your image using water soluable coloured ink. Add lines of Elegant Writer. The colour of the outline will mix with the colours from the EW pen and give you a different look (see Susan's cards as an example)
- There are also coloured Elegant Writer pens that are water soluable ink. You can see cards made using these pens below (see Darnell's cards as an example)
These instructions are listed on the sidebar by technique for easy access.
Elegant Writer Card Samples
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