M: I need something that will let me paint as in the style of an ink and brush, but can easily be resailed because it will be an ongoing project that only gets done a little bit at a time. Is there something out there that would help me do that? And if not, can you give any advice as to how to hack something together?
G: Yes. In fact, there are several solutions depending on what you mean by "resealed."
If you mean "I want to come back days or weeks later and have the brush and paint still usable", there are some very good options.
image_group{"query":["Japanese sumi ink cake and ink stone","Kuretake Bimoji brush pen black","Pentel Color Brush refillable brush pen","Masterson Sta-Wet palette"]}
A refillable brush pen, like the Pentel Color Brush or similar, is essentially a paintbrush with a reservoir.
You can fill it with:
Advantages:
This is probably the closest thing to "paint whenever inspiration strikes."
Instead of storing paint in the brush:
When you're done:
Professional illustrators do this all the time.
Good palettes stay usable for months.
If you're after the ritual as much as the result:
A sumi ink stick is ground against an ink stone with a little water whenever you work.
Advantages:
Disadvantage:
If you're using acrylics instead of ink:
A stay-wet palette uses a damp sponge beneath a permeable sheet.
Paint often remains workable:
depending on humidity.
I'd probably build this.
Imagine a small airtight food container.
Inside:
Essentially a homemade stay-wet palette scaled for brush painting.
Since you specifically said "paint in the style of ink and brush," consider water-soluble graphite or water-soluble ink blocks.
You can:
The paintings themselves stay permanent enough to build on, while your "ink supply" never really goes bad.
One question that would narrow the recommendation considerably: what surface are you painting on?
That changes the best solution quite a bit.
M: I'm trying to paint on some... what are they? Light switch covers, with either acrylic or oil. I got the refillable brush pens. I have a couple of the cheaper kind to experiment with. I need you to go online, please, and figure out for me how I need to dilute or otherwise prep some paint for it. Hell, I also need to know what kind of paint I would be best served with for those light switch surfaces, and also a wooden box. Oil, I think, is preferable in terms of permanence. I can treat it afterwards, but this is a gradual situation where I don't want, I don't want it water-soluble when I'm done.
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G: I actually think your project points toward a different solution than oil.
The thing that jumped out at me is light switch covers. Those are usually smooth thermoplastic (nylon, ABS, or polycarbonate), which is one of the more difficult surfaces for oil paint to bond to. Oil will certainly dry hard eventually, but it isn't naturally happier on plastic than acrylic is. The adhesion problem is the surface, not the paint.
Instead, I'd build the workflow around acrylic ink, not tube acrylic or oil.
Acrylic ink is basically acrylic paint that's already the consistency your refillable brush pens want. It uses extremely fine pigments in an acrylic binder, flows well through pens and markers, and dries waterproof and permanent. Many manufacturers specifically market it for refillable pens and markers. citeturn0search2turn0search3
I'd especially look at one of these:
product["turn0product0","Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink",{"render_as":"hero"}]
Or these alternatives:
product["turn0product39","Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Artists' Ink",{"render_as":"block"}]
product["turn0product41","Magic Color Liquid Acrylic Ink",{"render_as":"block"}]
Those are essentially "ready to pour into the pen." No experimentation with thinning is normally required.
Yes, but I wouldn't for this application.
Tube acrylic has much larger pigment particles.
If you absolutely have to:
Too much water weakens the acrylic binder, reducing adhesion and durability. Using acrylic medium instead preserves the binder while lowering viscosity. citeturn0search0turn0search3
There are several problems:
If what you really want is the look of sumi or oil brushwork, acrylic ink gets surprisingly close while being vastly more practical.
This is where the permanence actually comes from.
I'd do:
That primer does far more for longevity than choosing oil over acrylic.
Even easier.
Wood is much more forgiving.
One idea occurred to me that I think fits your "paint a little whenever inspiration strikes" approach.
Instead of filling one pen with one color, keep:
Those four pens can stay capped for weeks, and whenever inspiration hits you, you simply uncap and paint. Acrylic inks dry waterproof, so once today's work cures, tomorrow's strokes won't reactivate it. citeturn0search2turn0search3
One thing I'd be curious about: are these switch covers intended to be functional (installed and handled every day), or are they more like miniature paintings that just happen to be on switch plates? That affects what I'd recommend for the final clear coat.