I use Paint Pens to make plant markers. I do not have them with me now so I cannot give you the name. (will look when I get home).

What I do is push the pen to get the paint in the tip by pressing it on something other than the item I am going to paint. Once you get the paint into the tip you do not continue to press because you continue to push the paint out. That will cause puddles because you have too much paint in the tip which will overflow on to your item. Does that make sense? lol

I can tell when I need to press more paint into the tip by feel it usually feels like rubbing a dry tip on a item. When I have enough paint it flows and feel soft.

I also use them for plant markers. I use the sharpie brand. Like marquest said - I use a paper towel to press the tip on until paint flows. Then I don't press the tip again until it feels like the tip is dry - then again press on the paper towl in case the paint glumps off.

I know in the past I bought some metallic looking paint pens - and no matter what I did, the pain came out in glumps. But these sharpie brand ones work great. I bought mine at Michaels. They did not have them at my local Joann. We do not have Hobby Lobby where I live.

I have one I use for plant markers and it is DecoColor from Michaels. I think I would take those back to Hobby Lobby and complain. They should give you something that works. It kind of sounds like the product works correctly. Have you tried them on paper? And do all of them leak?

Paint pens and me don't get along. I always end up getting more paint on me than my project. The ones I buy , you have to press the tip down to get the paint flowing. Yep -- its either a blob coming out - or nothing. LOL I just keep scribbling until it flows by itself. Then you can stop pressing. I also read you should store them laying down flat . Oh -- and shaking --- keep that cap on !! I speak from experience ~~ :-0
Once you get the hang of them , they're okay. I use silver & gold fine tips on my stained glass. I do find they dry up quickly once you open them . They're a necessary evil for me. Sigh.

Thanks for the help. I tend to blame myself for my problems with paint markers & tubes of superglue due to bad arthritis in my hands. I feel better now that I know others are having the same problems. My black marker ran out of paint way too soon. I swear I got more paint on the scrap paper in the form of blobs than I got on the flowers. I picked up a pink marker hoping for better results, but it was the same thing all over again: Blobs or nothing. I will look for the sharpie paint pens at Hbby Lbby. If they don't have them, I'll get some at Michael's when I visit DD's # 2 & 3. - Laura

I've found that Sharpie's are not permanent for plant markers outside. In a year or so they have faded. A No.2 pencil or an indented mark on a label cut from a can are much more pernanent, I also use paint markers but in a year or so they can be scrached off. Hope this helps.

Okay I am home and found the pens that I have. I picked them up at Ace Hardware store in their close-out bin for a 1.00 ea last year. They are Krylon I was so excited I picked up every color they had. I spent 20.00. lol

They do not glob and shaking with the top off does not throw paint around. I highly recommend these if you can find them. They said Ace had discontinued I do not know if the company (Krylon) or Ace was discontinuing.

I have found Krylon Shortcuts Paint Markers online. I have ordered black & white. If they work out, I'll order some colors. They aren't cheap, but neither were the "Treehouse Studio" ones, which I had to throw away. After they arriove & I play with them a bit, I'll report back. - Laura

I hope they work for you Laura.

When you said "Even though I try to keep the pressure on the pens consistent, the paint tends to flow out in a very unpredictable way."

I only press to get the paint into the tip. No more pressure until you need to get more ink in the tip. If you constantly press as you are using the pen you are pushing to much paint out and will get a over flow. Did I explain that right?

If you keep pressing as you are working on the project you will get to much paint in the tip so it will flow everywhere.

Yeah, I got that, but I was finding that, at least with this brand, NO pressure resulted in NO paint. A little bit of consistent pressure resulted in unpredictable blobs. - Laura

I'm glad to see this thread as I'm about to paint birch trees on sliding closet doors and I wondered If I should try paint pens for the dark lines. I'll look for krylon. If I actually finish anytime soon, I'll post a link on the conversatons side.
Kathy

Hi Everyone! I want to report that I tried out my Krylon Short Cuts black paint pen and had terrific results. I only have black & white right now, but I'm going to get some colors and have some fun. Thanks to All! - Laura

I am happy they worked for you. If you have a ace hardware store check them out and see if they have them on sale. I picked up some more last week for 1.00 a piece. I got green, gold, and silver.

If you don't have a Ace Hardware close by you can go to there website www.acehardware.com for those who do Ace is having their annual *free* paint (quart) Saturday. just go to their website and print the coupon. Get there early as they only have about 40 quarts per store.

Please help! I bought my Krylon Short Cuts at Ace & I can't get them to work at all :( This was supposed to be a fun over night project dry by morning but no ink! I've been shaking, pressing & even probing... I'm so bummed I've spent almost the entire last hour trying to physically get the ink to flow in this pen:( Am I not doing something I should be? ~Jena