Rock Painting Tip: Use Paint Pens Instead of a Brush for Detailing

Sometimes my rock is too small or my hand too unsteady to paint fine details with a brush. Regular Sharpie markers smeared and changed color when a sealer was applied. Micron pens scraped the paint off my rock and dried up quickly.

Update: Monday, October 24, 2016

Since the date of the original post, I have discovered the Uni Posca marker and consider it the best pen/marker for rock painting. This post has now been updated to include the Posca pen. (Click here to see my experiments with the Posca Pen.)


Four pens suitable for rock painting are the: 

• Uni Posca Marker (extra fine tip)
• Elmer's Painters Pen (fine tip)
• Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Marker (fine tip)
• Sakura Pigma Brush Pen (brush tip)

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While only one of these pens is my perfect solution, they all enable me to add details to my painted rocks without using a brush.

I drew a simple kitty using each pen to illustrate how they perform on a rock. (FYI: Smooth stones are easier to draw on than pitted stones.) 

Uni Posca Marker (water-based paint filled)

Uni Posca Marker - My Perfect Rock Painting Pen

 Pros

• Available in various colors
• Many tips available from extra fine point to extra broad
• Can be used on unpolished and polished stones
• Dries quickly
• Does not blur or change color when sealer is applied

Cons

• None

Elmer's Opaque Paint Marker (acrylic paint filled)

Elmer's Painters Pen

 Pros

• Available in various colors
• Fine tip available
• Dries quickly
• Doesn't smear or change color when sealer is applied

 Cons

• Fine tip is not as fine as I'd like

Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Pen

Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Pen

Pros

• Available in various colors
• Fine & extra fine tips available
• Dries quickly
• Glossy
• Doesn't smear or change color when sealer is applied

Cons

• Fine tip is not as fine as I'd like (I have not tried the extra-fine tip)

Sagura Pigma Brush (archival ink)

Sakura Pigma Brush

Pros

• Available in various colors
• Dries quickly
• You can control the thickness of the line by amount of pressure used when drawing

Cons

• The kitty drawn with the Pigma Brush smeared when I applied a polyurethane varnish (Delta Ceramcoat)

Polyurethane sealer smeared my kitty design

Tip

• After redrawing the kitty with the Sakura Pigma Brush, I carefully sealed the rock with a thin coat of Mod Podge first, then I applied the Delta Ceramcoat  

Apply Mod Podge first then polyurethane sealer when using Pigma Brush

I previously used three of these pens interchangeably but my new favorite is the Posca marker.

How to Prevent "Sharpie" Permanent Markers from Blurring When Sealed

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© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks