Making ENAMEL PINS (for Illustrators) | Self Employed Artist

[@dilsdesigns]

the reason you can't do enamel coating on hard enamel comes down to the way soft and hard enamel pins are produced! hard enamel pins are overfilled, set, and then ground down to be level, so an enamel coating would be filed off, unlike a metal plating. soft enamel is under-filled and set, so coatings are preserved. this is also why the minimum line thickness of soft enamel is thinner than for hard enamel!

[@ArtbyTuna]

Loveee this! Thank you so much for the info!!

[@JelArts]

I've been wanting to try the coated soft enamel pins for sooo long, maybe this is my sign to finally do it!!

[@ArtbyTuna]

I am totally hooked on them! I hope you’ll give it a try, I would love to seeee!!

[@ItsClubAdventure]

The soft enamel + epoxy combo is a genius tip. I've been wanting the smooth finish of hard enamel with the color flexibility of soft enamel, and this accomplishes just that. You've been an invaluable resource in my art business journey.

[@grandinstationerydesigns]

Great info! Thank you so much for sharing!

[@thenerdyentrepreneur8093]

This was so helpful. I am not an artist but I wanted to have some pins created for my newsletter subscribers and we love pins but I didn't know much about how to go about the process.

[@grifinity84]

wow i am very honored that you share this with us !! ive used alibaba for most of my products but have always had some trouble finding a good enamel pin manu, and even with my fellow artist friends who dont like to share their manu (understandable) finally gives me a chance to try it out !! thank you my dude!

[@betterunsquirrel]

hey i’m new here! super cute video vibes and love the art !!!

[@drewrichh3747]

Please come to Cat Con 2024 in Pasadena California 🙏🏽

[@ChantelleArts]

this is really interesting, I didn't realise the b grade rate was that much higher for pins 😮

[@thetinyrobotlives]

Tuna never misses!

[@-iIIiiiiiIiiiiIIIiiIi-]

She had GODLIKE hands.

[@alambert9561]

You should name the alien Franklin

[@ArtbyTuna]

He totally looks like a Franklin!!!!

[@fuzzydragons]

I want to make enamel pins, but im broke lol i just love ho it looks like you have kitty ears 😝🥰

[@Dragontrap]

First name that came to mind for the little Alien buddy was Filbert

[@kakashiette]

Hi Tuna! Love watching your videos and thank you for this very informative video! I do have one question. I understand that Clip Studio Paint has vector layers you can draw in as well. I was wondering if there is a reason you export to the other program instead of just using one program for everything like maybe ease of use, if CSP vectors work differently, or something else I haven't thought of. I hope you have a great week and I look forward to the next video :)

[@ArtbyTuna]

Hi!!! I am under the impression that there is no “convert to vector” function in CSP? I like to hand-draw the design first. But I haven’t played with the vector tools in CSP much. If I am missing something let me know!!

[@kakashiette]

@@ArtbyTuna Oh that makes sense! I tend to start in a vector layer for all line work first and then add raster layers for color/rasterize as needed. I like working in vector because it makes erasing certain parts or lines easier and you can adjust width and even the brush used after the fact. I just got curious and looked to see if there is a way to go from raster to vector before responding, and found in the layer menu that if you right click the layer, there is an option to "convert layer" we can use to make that layer a vector layer instead. However, it seems like you would also need to tweak the vector setting when doing so and that honestly seems like its more trouble than its worth to do it that way lol. If I were to start in a raster layer and want to go to vector, I would definitely want to use your method instead and it's great to know about inkscape. Thank you :)

[@MollsieArt]

I always see enamel pins selling so well and they would fit my style perfectly, however with the MOQ being 50 almost everywhere it's really hard to justify making that many pins of one design. Since people who buy pins, keychains, and stickers can all be a totally different audience, how can someone who doesn't have a large audience test to see if a design would sell? It seems extreme to have to make a whole Kickstarter campaign for every design, but without a Patreon I'm not sure of another way to tell if a design will sell or not after all that investment 😥

[@ArtbyTuna]

I do think the data from testing designs on small objects like stickers is valuable in deciding what to expand on! Any observations can help guide decisions. But regardless, any project or purchase is a risk. You’ll never know for sure how quickly it will sell!!

[@MollsieArt]

​@@ArtbyTuna Thank you for the response! Yeah, true. I'll just have to keep trying to find a winning sticker design then 😂 Have a lovely week!