I
saw a video quite some time ago on Facebook were an artist was using the
Chameleon pens and ever since I have been hoping that we would get some into
stock and to my surprise and delight we finally received them this month. …Of
course I just had to try them out and purchase some for myself for my
calligraphy!
The Chameleon pens are alcohol based which means you are able to use them along side ProMarkers and Copic Chio which we also stock in stores and online. Like the ProMarkers and Copic Chio the Chameleon pens are double ended – brush one end and a bullet tip the other, but what makes these pens different is they have a third end which houses a colourless tip. Chameleon also have Colour Tops which means you are able to blend 2 colours easily together to get a nice graduation of colour. Although you are able to do this with both the ProMarkers and Copic Chio with the slot in tops it makes the Chameleon pens easier to use.
The
best paper to use for these pens would most likely be a marker pad but as I use
the Botanical Hot Pressed watercolour pad for a lot of my calligraphy I decided
to try the pens on that. I feel this helped the blending of the pens as the ink
seeps into the paper and spreads a little, which is helpful when filling in
letters. I used the Primary Chameleon pen set and the Pastel Tops and a black
PC-1MR Posca paint pen for the outline of the lettering.
I first laid out my lettering in pencil before inking in the final lines as I
wanted to make sure I was happy with the layout of the wording. I used the
colour names of the pens so I am able to show the colours though out me playing
around with the pens.
Once
I was happy with the layout and style of the lettering I then started to add
colour. You are able to use the
Chameleon pens without adding the blending agent but to get the nice colour
shift from pale to dark, place the pen nib that you prefer (I used the bullet
tip), into the clear end and then wait. The longer you wait the more paler and
further the colour will go (I would wait around 30 seconds or more if required).
If you want the pen to change from say yellow to black all you need to do is
add a colour top of yellow to the pen and this will make the colour change
happen.
You are able to colour either light to dark or dark to
light. On some of the larger lettering you can even do the graduation from both
ends and meet in the middle with a colour. This gives the lettering more of a
3D look. You do not need to use these
pens just for lettering they will work for almost any design or drawing. The
Chameleon pens come in various different packs of 5 pens with Topper sets to
match, they are also refillable.
