in #hive-1305603 years ago

Felt tip pens can be refilled easily. There are water-based and alcohol-based inks available. The most well known is, of course, Copic. If the pen is sealed just pull the felt tip out carefully and use a syringe to refill through the tip hole.

I don't know about gel pens; I don't use them. However, many acrylic inks are thin enough to run easily through a cheap fountain pen. You can buy converters for this (expensive) or refill empty ink cartridges with a syringe. They make blunt needles for medical applications; makes it less dangerous.

Unfortunately, titanium dioxide white pigments are too thick for this. You can use them with an old-fashioned dunk nib though. Another good alternative for white over color is a good white gouache. I like Schmincke for this. White gouache, in fact, all gouaches, can be used with nibs as long as they're thin enough. There are also empty markers on the market, for acrylics and other paints/inks. Montana makes them in all shapes and sizes.

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Try, experiment.

Happy new year.

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Oh, thanks so much! I've just found my lost Rotring Art Pen but I have to buy ink cartridges for that. Well, there aren't white ink cartridges, just gel. Once I used nibs with titanium white but all of them clogged and I didn’t have a thin needle that would fit to clean them. Are there any other thinner white pigments?

There are thinner white pigments, but they're not opaque which defeats the purpose. They still don't go through a pen. In my experience only open, old-fashioned dunking nibs work with white. Or a Montana pump marker w/ white acrylic ink (similar to a Posca marker, but refillable).

Most of these professional tools like Montana are not available in Hungary, that's why I have to be inventive. But I can buy cheap fountain-pen and can use its nib as well.

Now you're worrying me. I have plans to move to Hungary permanently, when my obligations here in Germany are discharged, probably to Keszthely / West Balaton. :-) However, I can't believe this: Doesn't Amazon deliver to Hungary? Because of geoblocking, I can't try this, so you tell me. Everything is on Amazon!

Also, without speaking one stitch of your language yet, I found a bunch of art supply stores. Just as one example, this one doesn't look too shabby:

https://dekorart.hu/muveszellato/

If all else fails, order from Germany. This one is the discount vendor of Gerstaecker, a big, reputable art supply chain. I just called them, and they will be happy to ship to Hungary (w/ DHL) albeit at a slightly higher price. So you have to make bigger orders, but better than not getting stuff:

https://www.kreativ.de/

The other big German vendor is Boesner. I called them for you, and they will ship to Hungary as well. I'm not clear on whether orders can be processed directly on their website, but they will process Hungarian e-mail orders for sure. Boesner is more expensive than Kreativ, but they have some interesting house brands, e.g. their watercolor brand is made by Schmincke - same quality, better price.

Also, if this isn't too far for you, they have a 2,100 sqm store in Graz / Austria. This store is the fulfillment center for Austria, so they'll have everything there in stock. For me it would be worth the 2 1/2 hour drive from Kesthely. You decide.

https://www.boesner.com/

https://www.boesner.at/unsere-standorte/graz-1

Keszthely, Balaton? Oh, that's great! If you come, you should visit Victoria Oravecz's studio. https://oraveczgallery.hu/index.php/en/viktoria-oravecz
She is a great artist, abstract painter.
I never tried Amazon, there is no Hungarian customer service and many goods are not delivered to Hungary. I prefer to buy in local shops, sometimes in Budapest.
However, I want to go in the direction that is most environmentally friendly and recyclable. I will never buy non-recyclable felt-tip or gel pen again. I would also like to learn how to make watercolor paints at home, whether from plant based or mineral ingredients.

Making watercolor is easy: gum arabic and some honey for a binder, glycerin and ox gall to improve flow. The pigments are trickier: minerals are okay, but plant matter is neither stable nor lightfast. Best buy commercial pigments.

I saw some videos of watercolor paint making. What is the name of the mushroom-shaped glass tool with which they rub the paint on a glass plate? I've never seen such a tool before.

It's called a "muller" or "glass muller". In German "Glasläufer" if you want to order from there. They're quite expensive and you also need a matching rough hard glass plate. Over 100,00 EUR for a set. The cheap ones are no good. You can buy a lot of top quality water colors for that and paint a lot of pictures.