Gel Pens
Gel pens are a relatively recent product, but have very quickly become a favourite for lots of people. They are very similar to liquid ink rollerballs, but the ink is in the form of a gel. Like ketchup or 'solid emulsion' paints, gel ink is solid stuff until a force is applied to it - then it becomes liquid. The act of touching the ball against paper is enough to change it, and make the ink flow. As soon as the ink is on the paper, with no force applied, it's solid again.
The gel can hold pigment, so the ink is often more permanent than liquid inks, and can write in pastel colours that show up on dark paper, or even have sparkling fragments of metal or cosmetic-grade glass for sparkling or metallic effects. Combined with the amount of ink these pens put down, this means gel pens usually make very bold, bright lines. You can see some of the variety of effects that can be achieved with gel ink in the Sakura Gelly Roll range - the original name in gel pens.
The disadvantages of gel pens are that they can tend to skip with very light pressure; the ink doesn't last as long as the same sized ballpoint refill would; and they don't write on all surfaces a ballpoint will, so shiny paper (like greetings cards) may be a problem. Fans of gel pens consider these small prices to pay for the smoothness, and the bright colours and really black blacks.
Pilot have a huge range of gel pens, including the classic Pilot G2 retractable, with lots of choices of tip sizes and colours. Their G-Tec-C4 can write an amazingly fine line with surprising smoothness, with ten colours available. Many of Uni-ball's gel ink pens use their 'super-ink', which is highly permanent.
Monteverde's gel refills are also worth mentioning - they'll let you use gel ink in quite a few pens that would otherwise only have ballpoint refills available.
Gel Pens FAQ
What’s the difference between a gel pen and a rollerball?
The difference is the ink - and a gel pen is really a specific type of rollerball. So a gel pen could be described as a gel-ink rollerball, while the term ‘rollerball’ on its own will *usually* refer to a rollerball with liquid ink.
Gel ink is thicker than liquid ink, and it’s *thixotropic* - fairly solid at rest, but more like a liquid when force is applied to it. Think of ketchup, staying put in the bottle until you shake it, then far too much falls out at once. Or solid emulsion paint - rolls on, but then stays put while it dries.
The result is ink that feels nice and smooth to write with, but without the tendency to leak out if left touching paper, and because it’s thick when its at rest, it can suspend all sorts of particles in it for special effects.
What sort of ink does a gel pen use?
Gel ink - thick at rest, but flows easily when it’s moved. That’s ‘thixotropic’ if you want to get fancy. It makes for very stable ink that will sit in place without moving, but flows nicely when you start writing. And it can suspend particles of pigment or glitter, or various other things.
This all means the ink can quite easily be pigmented and opaque, so pale inks can write on dark surfaces. Artists often use white gel pens to add tiny highlight details.
Why were gel pens so popular in the 90s?
Sometimes it’s best not to think too hard about what was popular in the 90s, but gel pens were pretty understandable. For one, they were new, and new things are always exciting. But because gel ink can hold suspended particles, we suddenly had pens that could write in white on black paper; pens that could write sparkly, glittery lines. Even fluorescent inks, or inks that would puff up with a 3D effect. Such excitement!
Like many things, they had their time of being super-popular, when they seemed to be everywhere. But they didn’t really disappear. They aren’t *everywhere* any more, but like the yo-yo and the hacky sack, they still exist, and still have their fans.