Gel Pens Over Grayscale
Gel pens are a very popular medium choice in the adult coloring world. They can be found very easily in most retail stores. They are inexpensive and come in a huge variety of colors. Many sets even offer neon, metallic and glitter options. The small width of the pen tip allows you to get into very small areas and add fine detail work.
I would recommend gel pens in two ways only for grayscale coloring: details and highlights. Gel pens are very opaque, so they will cover up your shadows almost completely. I would avoid using them in large areas otherwise your coloring will appear flat. But they really shine in grayscale coloring when you use them to color in small detail areas or add highlights to shiny areas.
I would recommend gel pens in two ways only for grayscale coloring: details and highlights. Gel pens are very opaque, so they will cover up your shadows almost completely. I would avoid using them in large areas otherwise your coloring will appear flat. But they really shine in grayscale coloring when you use them to color in small detail areas or add highlights to shiny areas.
Sakura Gelly Roll Pens
You have a TON of options when it comes to gel pens, many of which are very inexpensive. I would suggest shopping around your local retail store and picking up a few packs to see which ones you like! I have tried many different types of gel pens, but one of my favorites is Sakura Gelly Roll Pens. They are available in many different packs and sets. You can also find them open stock at your local craft or art store.
Nikki's Experiences: These sets are definitely on my wish list and I hope to splurge on them one day! I wish I owned more of them, but I find them to be pretty pricey. I have purchased several of these pens open stock and find myself "saving" them because they're my favorites and I don't want them to run out of ink! Anyone else do that? Come on...you know you do! The colors are so pretty and they produce ink very consistently and evenly. I haven't had any clog or become streaky. If you've used gel pens before, you know some of them fight with you and don't want to lay down the ink very well. These aren't like that at all. The set of 72 has a description on it that says "Ice Cream Smooth". I think that is a very accurate description!
I recommend these pens as a way to add in small details to your work. Consider using a gold metallic gel pen to color in the chains of one of my steampunk girls or use a purple shimmer gel pen to color in the details of the designs on clothing. I would not recommend these for large areas, because they are very opaque and will cover up the grayscale image too much.
- Set of 74 (Includes Metallic, Classic, Moonlight Stardust and Shadow styles)
- Moonlight
- Metallic
- Stardust Meteor
- Stardust Galaxy
- Classic
- Dark Metallic
- Silver Shadow
Nikki's Experiences: These sets are definitely on my wish list and I hope to splurge on them one day! I wish I owned more of them, but I find them to be pretty pricey. I have purchased several of these pens open stock and find myself "saving" them because they're my favorites and I don't want them to run out of ink! Anyone else do that? Come on...you know you do! The colors are so pretty and they produce ink very consistently and evenly. I haven't had any clog or become streaky. If you've used gel pens before, you know some of them fight with you and don't want to lay down the ink very well. These aren't like that at all. The set of 72 has a description on it that says "Ice Cream Smooth". I think that is a very accurate description!
I recommend these pens as a way to add in small details to your work. Consider using a gold metallic gel pen to color in the chains of one of my steampunk girls or use a purple shimmer gel pen to color in the details of the designs on clothing. I would not recommend these for large areas, because they are very opaque and will cover up the grayscale image too much.
Uni-Ball Signo White Gel Pen
A good, opaque white gel pen is a very valuable tool to have no matter what medium you use for your grayscale colorings. It can add a pop of brightness to even the darkest areas. Uni-Ball Signo White gel pens have a very smooth ink flow and feature a rubber grip. The ink is acid free.
Nikki's Experiences: I was trying to hunt down the most opaque white gel pen that I could find. One of the pitfalls with grayscale coloring is that it can cover up a lot of the highlights in the image. So it's nice to have a way to add those back in if you want to. I tried a couple different types of white gel pens, and they just weren't opaque at all. They were way too transparent and just left an ugly, milky residue on my paper.
I consulted my favorite Adult Coloring groups on Facebook, and these pens were recommended to me. They were exactly what I was looking for! They are VERY opaque and will still appear white over a dark area. I like to use them for highlights on eyes, lips and shiny objects.
One down side to these pens is that I wish that they had a finer tip. I found them a bit hard to control and the ink flows out very fast, so you have to use these with caution. I would suggest practicing on a separate piece of paper before you take it to your final piece.
Nikki's Experiences: I was trying to hunt down the most opaque white gel pen that I could find. One of the pitfalls with grayscale coloring is that it can cover up a lot of the highlights in the image. So it's nice to have a way to add those back in if you want to. I tried a couple different types of white gel pens, and they just weren't opaque at all. They were way too transparent and just left an ugly, milky residue on my paper.
I consulted my favorite Adult Coloring groups on Facebook, and these pens were recommended to me. They were exactly what I was looking for! They are VERY opaque and will still appear white over a dark area. I like to use them for highlights on eyes, lips and shiny objects.
One down side to these pens is that I wish that they had a finer tip. I found them a bit hard to control and the ink flows out very fast, so you have to use these with caution. I would suggest practicing on a separate piece of paper before you take it to your final piece.
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