Swift Victims (and Not All Gel Pens Are Created Equal)

1/14/14 Gel pens, Fabriano Studio hot press 140 lb. paper

Temperatures have been in the upper 40s and lower 50s the past few days – altogether tropical compared to the rest of the country. I was so excited about it that when I had 15 minutes before I had to leave for the next errand, I stopped at Starbucks for a quick mid-morning coffee and sketch – and got an outdoor table!

I guess my “victims” were as busy as I was – a woman, her baby and a friend left a minute after I got started (you can still see their ghosts). But right after they left, a woman stopped to make a phone call, so I pounced quickly. Gel ink – an inherently quick medium because it flows so smoothly, especially on Fabriano Studio hot press – was just what I needed.

After yesterday’s exploration of gel ink pens as a sketching medium, I dug more deeply into some drawers and found several different brands (OK, I admit, I have a really large stash of gel pens). The ones I tried yesterday, Zebra Sarasa, although my favorite for writing, don’t bleed as much as I had hoped. But after testing all the brands I owned, I found that Foray Gelio pens bleed like crazy when water is applied – score! I had picked them up at Office Depot for $12.99 for a set of 20 colors. Maybe the lower the quality and price of a gel pen, the more likely it is to run when wet. In any case, these Foray Gelio pens are a fast, easy way to add color that I can wash just as easily with a waterbrush. The only thing I don’t like is that they can leave tiny blobs of ink that are easy to smear before they dry.