Gel Ink Pens

Gel Ink PenThe gel ink pen is related to the rollerball, and therefore also to the ballpoint pen. It could actually be considered a variant on the rollerball, but it has enough differences to make it worth of consideration as a separate pen in its own right. The primary difference between the gel pen, and the rollerball (and the ballpoint as well, for that matter) is in the type of ink that is used in it. All the types distribute ink from the reservoir to a rolling ball at the point of the pen.

The ink used in a gel pen is gelled, hence the name, unlike that in a rollerball, which is liquid, or in a ballpoint, which is both viscous and oil-based. Like those two pen types, the gel pen also has a ball point in differing sizes, from very fine to much thicker, depending on what it is going to be used for. The gelled ink also allows for an even greater range of colours than is seen in rollerballs, and far more than ballpoints are commonly available in. This makes them most suited of the three ball-based pen types for use in art, as there are simply more colours available.

Gel pens are generally better at writing on non-absorbent materials than ballpoints; however, the ink can also be more prone to spreading out when used on particularly absorbent materials, such as newsprint, but less so than is seen in rollerballs. Like the other ball pens, gel ink pens can be found in both disposable and reusable varieties. There tend to be more disposable types of gel pen than there are of rollerballs, but in more colours than ballpoints, and gel pens may require refilling or replacing with greater frequency than a similar ballpoint. Gel pens, especially disposable ones, also tend to come in a wider variety of styles and colours for the pen itself, compared to the other two.

Gel pens are my second favourite preferred pen for regular use, after rollerballs, as they are both easy and comfortable to write with – in my opinion, at least – although I make more use of disposable gel pens than I do refillable ones.