👍 [Pro Tips] Paint Bleed Tips for paint pens

Paint Bleed Tips for paint pens

  1. The base wood material needs to be prepped BEFORE using any pen type applicator to stop the bleed.
  2. Suggest use a color for the balance of the areas NOT accent painted with the pen. That way when you use the accent pen it can only see the primed painted surface and not the fine wood grains causing the bleed. Or you can surface prime the part say in a pale “dirty white“ (mix bright white with a tiny tiny tiny tiny amount blue and an even smaller amount of magenta) then once the primer layer dries use the accent color pen.
  3. There is another way to force bleed stop. However, would only suggest using that process on very large parts. The process consists of painting the adjacent area first, let’s that is yellow, you paint yellow over the line where you would want to use the pen accent color let’s say that is red. Let yellow fully dry. Then apply mask tape aligned to where you want the accent red color line to really be against the yellow. Then apply more yellow along that mask tape line. Let it dry ( this second coat lets any yellow that might seep under the mask tape to seal the gap and color blend). Then use the paint pen to apply the accent red color and before it dries pull off the mask tape. (The forced stop bleed method works, it’s just time consuming and several extras process steps.)

As always, there is no one way to do anything, and, if your process is working for you and not experiencing bleeding on bare wood substrate, then I encourage others (beginners or pros) to detail out and add to this community’s great TIP Library. The great thing about this community is sharing of knowledge in the way of tips.

Enjoy your builds!

8 Likes

I have also used clear or natural stain to seal every bit of the wood while still on the boards before painting

1 Like

So when I do my guitar, it is that bare wood, am I better to stain everything? or at least the paintable parts? I feel like I should slap it on the entire wood bar but then afraid there will be a peg or something I would make too big

You can stain it or you can paint it. You can always paint over any stain that you don’t like. A Clear Stain will just seal the wood so that it takes less coats of your paint and any /or markers that you choose to use @jeanneL

Perfect! Thanks Nita!

You’re very welcome @jeanneL

If it were me I would seal all of the wood with what ever material you feel the most comfortable using, paint or a water based stain.

1 Like

Great tips! Thanks for sharing such a detailed explanation — I’ll definitely try the primer method next time to avoid paint bleeding.

Thanks for share. If you have images, everyone can easily imagine.

Thank you these professional tips :+1:

Thanks for the tips. It seems like my acrylic marker is doing well. But definitely keep this in mind.

Thanks for sharing these tips :hugs: