Aqua Painter vs. Blender Pens

[justjoshin4groban]

Hey- I was just wondering if anyone knows the difference between Aqua Painters and Blender Pens.

I bought something similar to the Aqua Painter @ Roberts a year ago. I just recently purchased blender pen fluid and put it in my Roberts Aqua painter. I used it like I would my blender pens & can't see a huge difference between the two. What are the + and - to each of them, and what's the difference supposed to be?

Thanks in advance. ;-)

Jamie

[kiraj]

I have blender pens, and aqua painters are on the way. It seems to me that aqua painters definantely give a more watercolor type look. Blender pens dampen the chalk and kind of spread it around. They both have their pluses, but I think I will like the aqua painters better.

[justjoshin4groban]

So you use blender pens with the chalk? I did it once and it made my blender pen look like crap!

I always use my blender pens w/ the markers so I can do shading. I feel like using it that way gives a watercolor look...Are there any other benefits to the aqua painter? (other than the watercolor look?)

[kiraj]

even though the tip of the blender pen turns a funny color when used with chalk, it's like the aqua painter in that it doesn't show up next time. Especially if you designate one end dark and one end light. But I like the look of the chalk on some things so it doesn't bother me too much.

[dkessler73]

I find that I'm a little too heavy handed with the aqua painters! If you're not quick and your cardstock is very heavy-----it can absorb alot of moisture and begin to buckle. I hate that. Using SU! watercolor paper can alleviate that. Blender pens are my favorite for using the watercolor pencils and the pure color pencils. It moves the color around nicely giving your image depth and the appearance of shadowing. Aqua painter is really good with a few drops of bleach to make a funky looking tie dyed splotch on colored cardstock. It's definetly worth having both. I just use one tip of my blender pen until it is completely worthless and then move on..........so 6 tips in all.

When in doubt, buy them all! You can never have too many jackets, purses, boots or hats!

[gaylestamps]

I use the blender pens with chalks (excuse me, pastels) and the aqua painters with the watercolor crayons. The blender pens give GREAT color saturation on darker cardstock. I only put a tiny bit of water in the aqua painters because they tend to saturate the paper.

[lishjohns]

I think the aqua painters are harder to control, but I still like them. It's hard not to get too much water on whatever your coloring! But, they are nice because you can fill them yourself-with water or with bleach (for bleaching technique). I use my aqua painters all the time when I want to crumple a piece of cardstock. You run your aqua painter all over the cardstock you want to crumple and then crumple it and let dry for a few seconds-it doesn't hurt your hands like dry cardstock does! The blender pens are easier to control and are filled with something other than water. I have heard that the blender pens "seal" the pastels so they won't smear. I use both quite a bit, but I would recommend the blender pens over the aqua painters. But, it depends on what you want them for. Hope this helps.

[tennisrules]

What I like about the aquapainters is when you are covering a large space (like Loads of Love truck), you can just swish the water around. But you do have to be careful about the water. I have a few warped cards. Also, I have more stamp pads, so I match the SU colors by using the ink from the stamp pad. I like the blender pen for smaller areas. I used it with Feathered Friends. I outlined the area and then used the blender pen to shade in the smaller area. I would definitely have both, though!

Good luck!

[KristiK]

I love my blender pens with my chalks!!! In general, I love blender pens, however do not have aquapainters to compare to!