I decided to take the plunge into the Sharpie Poster Paint & regular Paint Pens. I have to say... I like 'em!! Here's the difference between them...
The Paint Pens are opaque, permanent, oil-based, and can write on many different surfaces. The body of this marker is metal, similar to the standard paint markers that contain xylene. Available in 4 different nib sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, and bold.
The Poster Paint Pens are archival quality pens that are opaque, water-based, water-resistant, acid-free, and fade-resistant. The ads claim that it won't bleed through paper, but I haven't tested that yet. The barrel plastic and feels a bit "chunky" in the hand. I love the extra fine nib!! This pen comes in 5 different nib sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, bold, and extra bold. Both pens come in 15 colors: red, pink, magenta, orange, yellow, green, lime green, blue, aqua blue, purple, white, black, brown, metallic silver, and metallic gold. They are both the pump-style action nibs, which is the same as the xylene pens. So far it seems as though the Sharpies are not as messy as the other pens. If my memory serves me correctly, Michaels had all these colors; AC Moore & Hobby Lobby DO NOT carry these at all. I think these pens are on the expensive side. This coming from a Copic fanatic!! I got my first 3 on sale at Michaels for $2.50 each. When I went back for another 3, they were not on sale and were $3.50 each. I think some of them are $3.99; don't know if any were more than that. I have to go to Michaels today so I'll take a peek at their selection. This may be something I end up buying online to save some additional money, I don't know yet. OK, I'm saving the very best news for last... these pens are non-toxic because they do not contain xylene. Woo hoo!! No more stinky paint markers! Loving that!
CORRECTION: Hobby Lobby does carry these pens, however, they are sold in sets and none of the sets have the extra fine nib. I didn't get the chance to see if AC Moore had the sets as well.
CORRECTION: Hobby Lobby does carry these pens, however, they are sold in sets and none of the sets have the extra fine nib. I didn't get the chance to see if AC Moore had the sets as well.
I've started with 6 colors: pink, purple, yellow, orange, & lime in the Paint Pens in a fine nib. The other pen is a Poster Paint in white with an extra fine nib. I'd like to pick up a red and magenta maybe... that will depend on what Michaels has. :-) I'm looking forward to playing with them; seeing what all I can do with them. I've made a couple cards using them that I will post later.
