3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations

3D Printing or drawing with a 3D pen can help you to produce many interesting creations. I have been experimenting with various ideas and materials for the last 2 years and in this article I would like to share my experience.

The development of 3D technologies has given rise to many opportunities for creating 3-dimensional art objects and some very innovative, functional art. For me, as for artist it is always interesting to try new art techniques, materials and tools.

My personal experience with 3D pens


When I tried to use my first 3D pen, it wasn't a great experience. Unfortunately, the pen came to me broken, or "dead on arrival" and that is how I have learned my first lesson: "Purchase a 3D pen with a warranty". I had a similar experience with what was supposed to be one of the best beginner heat transfer printers so I knew what steps to take to get a new one.

 Luckily, Amazon managed to exchange it free of charge, and after that it has become my favorite painting tool. It is extremely easy to fall in love with this technology and it is even easier to create cool 3D prints with this magical little wand.

3d painted jacket 1
3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations 1

Me wearing my 3D painted jacket

3d painted jacket

 You don't need to be an artist, you even don't need any specific knowledge to use this tool. All you need is the desire to create and the time to practice.

From my personal experience, I can say that if you want to do something, all you need just to start and do not give up.

In my portfolio page you can see my works, but this is not the full collection of 3d prints which I have created.

When you start using 3D pen, it may take some time to be able to produce good quality 3D creations. 

As most of you, I have started with just stencils and some simple 3d models like flowers and butterflies. It took me at least a few months of practicing to be able to draw my very first bowl and half a year to start with corsets, head wears and bags.

3d simo Kseniia Nel
painted with 3d pen

During this time I broke many pens, trying to found new, more flexible plastic filament materials which I can use with 3d pen.

When I started it was still a new tool and not so many people had experimented with 3d pens and plastics. And of course I had to go through all this my self, from painting on different surfaces to trying different brands and types of plastic .

From very beginning, it wasn't easy for me, BUT it will be much easier for you. Cause all information you need, I am sharing with you, so you can find on this website.

During the last few years a large quantity of good 3D Pens (and poor quality pens) were launched around the world. And I am sure that this is just a beginning.

My very own 3D Pen Ideas


Starting as a kid's toy, the 3d pen evolved into a tool for professional artists and designers. A big variety of pens makes choosing the right one your individual needs more difficult, but it just gives a bigger opportunity for you to realise your 3d ideas and creations.

In this article I will take a look at some of the objects I created and explain to you how to do it. You can be the judge and tell me what you think in the comment section. Let's start with some of the objects I have painted with the 3d pen.

The most of things I will talk about were made with a Flexible plastic which makes it wearable and (in the case of bags) functional.

There were many discussion about using flexible plastic with 3D pen. Unfortunately, some pens I experimented with got broken, which made me thing few time before buying more of those.

Luckily, the pen from 7TECH worked great with semi-flexible plastic and it gave me and opportunity to make flexible sheets, which I use as a 'fabric' to create my designs. I have also experimented with coloring my creations with a similar paint to what is used in a paintball (I bought the paintballs from PBGuy.com).

painting 3d pen
3d painting

During the last few years much bigger amount good and not really good quality pens were lounged around the world. And I am sure it is just the beginning. Starting as a kid's toy, the 3D Pen soon became a tool from professional artist and designers.

A big variety of pens makes a choice of pen for your self more difficult, but it just gives bigger opportunities for your creations.

After browsing some of the 3d prints from my Portfolio,  don't forget to come back to this page and read about how the creative process behind the individual pieces of art. In this article I will take a look at some of the objects I created and explain the process behind the work.

You can be the judge and tell me what you think in the comment section. Let's start with some of the objects I have painted with the 3d pen.

Most of the objects I want to discuss were made with a flexible plastic which makes it wearable and (in the case of the bags) functional. Whether you can or can't use flexible plastic with a 3D pen is debatable, and I would not advice this plastic for beginners... Rather stick with PLA or ABS .

Decoration for 3D printed objects


Before I started work with more fashionable things and wearable art, I was experimenting with a usual materials for 3d pen - ABS and PLA. This vase was my first real step in 3D art word.

I made it in the beginning of the "Future traditions" project (a collaboration between Norwegian and Hungarian students). As a Norwegian student I decided to take something from Norwegian Folk Art and I chose Rosemaling for my inspiration.

Rosemaling is a style of paining flowers to decorate objects such as beds, chairs, walls, and is actually a common test pattern used to differentiate between the best sublimation printers. It has interesting dynamics of composition and looks quite unique.

3D Printed Flowerpot

For this shape of pattern, I painted a simplified version on a piece of paper and, as you do with stencils, painted these shapes separately.

Of course I needed more than one shape of patterns. When I had the pieces of puzzle ready, using a usual coffee cup, I painted a circle with a pencil on a paper. That formed the shape for the bottom section.

The objects you are making must be stable and it will be great if they can stand by them self. That is why, I don't recommend that you paint on both sides of the bottom part and make it as thick as possible.

At the end of the day you just need to  be able to connect all the parts together. It is more logical to connect them all one by one to the base and then when you finished, connect them together.

You must remember that it is not really possible to make a SUPER PERFECT symmetrical object with a 3d pen. It is an imperfect tool for home use, not a 3D printer which has a precise model to print from.

The advantage of this is that every line and object you paint is completely unique. So do not struggle with making it perfect, but try to be neat, because some mistakes are impossible to correct.

Sculpting your 3D drawn objects


swan 3d painted
swan 3d painted
swan 3d painted

Sculpting is one of the ways to make 3d objects. This technique gives you the opportunity of making stiff and unusual sculptures.

Of course you will need more plastic, but if you start with a flat shape and then give it volume, you can leave the sculpture empty inside. This trick can make the sculpture lighter and will save you a few hours of work and material costs.

To see how to make sculptures with 3d pen, watch my Youtube tutorial on 'Sculpturing' (Coming Soon ).

Corset and Bra


3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations 2
3d painted corset
3d printed bra

Some sexy underwear, made of plastic.

For this I used lace technique as an inspiration. The idea has been to create "new textiles" inspired by traditional lace techniques.

I was trying to retain the artistic expression you can wee in a handmade piece of difficult lace technique. This is the reason why  these two works are extremely detailed and neat.

They both consist of pieces made on a flat surface, connected in the same way you would connect clothes. However for the black beast cup I used one more trick. I uesd a bowl to make 3d shape.

An important point to note about flexible plastic is that it is not possible to paint 'in the air' with it. You always need a base.

Handbags and Purse


3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations 3
Pen and Plastic Art

During the summer-autumn of 2016 I have made a small collection of bags, using flexible plastic and a 3d pen. The collection includes one backpack, 3 white bags , one black, one purse and two wallets. All of those you can see in my Portfolio.

It has all stared with my mum asked me to paint a case for her iPad mini. I was working already with a flexible plastic, but was more concentrated on making corsets. Unfortunately, experiment with a case for tablet didn't work, but it gave an idea to make a bag.

The principle is the same as with corsets: first you paint a 'fabric', then you connect it with 'stitches'.

I liked how I made an imitation of lace for corsets, so with bags I continued this 'crochet' style, but made it more simple and recognizable.

Painting on a canvas


Painting on a canvas is one of my favourite hobbies. Before I started my work with the 3d pen, I was just an ordinary painter =). Painting on canvas with oil, tempera and acrylic was more than my hobby, it was my profession and passion.

For some weird reason however, it took me some time to try to paint with a 3d pen on canvas.

Once I mustered the courage to attempt this, I tried to use PLA and ABS, but these materials do not stick to a normal canvas.

Luckily, flexible plastic does. So in the picture below you can see a painting made on canvas. It is one more great way to use  a 3d pen, but works mostly for graphic art.

3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations 4
3d painted graphic Angel
3d painted graphic Angel

For more interesting 3D pen ideas, you can check out my Pinterest album. Let me know if you like a specific piece of art discussed here in the comment section below, and feel free to share my work on Social Media with your friends.

9 thoughts on “3D Pen Art – My own Ideas and Creations”

  1. I have a question…..I just started with my 1st 3d pen and I would like to use it on canvas. I noticed above that you said that only “flexible plastic” sticks to a normal canvas. I am not sure what that is. I wanted to try adding the 3d pen to already painted canvas to add a 3D effect. Any suggestions as to how I could accomplish that? I have been googling it with little success.

    Reply
  2. I have a question…..I just started with my 1st 3d pen and I would like to use it on canvas. I noticed above that you said that only “flexible plastic” sticks to a normal canvas. I am not sure what that is. I wanted to try adding the 3d pen to already painted canvas to add a 3D effect. Any suggestions as to how I could accomplish that? I have been googling it with little success.

    Reply
  3. Just found this site… nice work!

    I wanted to add something to the comment from Shantell over the plastic sticking to the canvas.

    If you spray the canvas with hairspray and wait till its a bit dry, then you will find that it sticks just fine.

    This is also used when the plastic wont stick to some papers or other items.

    Reply
  4. Hello Kseniia Snikhovska, I wanted to thank you for the work you have done with this wonderful website and for showing us and showing us your tremendous art. I have been wanting to experiment with this technique since the first 3d pen came out, currently I have a 3d pen for beginners. I am a fashion designer, pattern maker, dressmaker and graphic designer and my love for 3d makes me want to take my designs to the next level. I would like to know ( that on the internet it is not easy to find concrete information ) what kind of material you use as “flexible filament” for your wearable artworks. I have seen that TPU and TPE are very flexible but on the internet it says that it is not compatible with 3d pens. When you say that the 7tech pen is compatible with semi-flexible materials, what material do you mean? I will use my current pen for practice but someday I would like to have a better tool to use on my clothes. What pen do you recommend to use with flexible filaments? Tremendously grateful for your work, keep it up master. I am from Spain, sorry if my English is not correct, a hug for you.

    Reply
    • Thank you, I am very happy that you love my works.
      I killed many 3d pens with flexible plastic to make my projects. You must be able to change and experiment with temperature, but anyway, 3d pen will not survive long while working with flexible plastic. Because they are not compatible. But it is still possible to make coll projects if you are ready to spend money on buying a few 3d pens. But you have to understand that when I work on the project I can paint 5 hours non stop, and not every pen can handle it. So far the only survivors I have in my collection is 3Dsimo 1st and 2nd generation. But 2nd is made with a thinner nozzle so it is used for more detailed works. About plastic, I will tell you my special secret> I use my friend https://monofilament.com.ua/ , but unfortunately, they do not send their products abroad.
      for other questions, contact me via Instagram @penandplactic
      Best regards
      Kseniia

      Reply

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