What Various Pens I Use for Art Making

My lineup of pens

Pens can be something of a guilty pleasure for me.  Especially GellyRoll pens because they come in so many colors and versions like metallic and glitter.  I paint more than I draw so the necessity of all the pens I have is what makes me feel guilty.  This somewhat prompted me to practice my drawing skills and make some art with them.

Recently I made some very colorful small drawings on dark slate grey cardstock that is perfect for the bright colors to be shown off.  I sold more than a few of these so I'd say it was a success.  Here are a few of them!

I used a combination of gel ink, watercolor, gouache, and black ink to make these.  A lot of these I've shared on my blog before and in previous videos, but I rarely get to use so many pens at once.   If you've been on the fence about trying these for art making let me say that the color variety is great, and the options for brush pens are numerous.  There are favorites that get passed around, but I hear of many other brands being just as good or better depending on your needs.  It's honestly very relaxing to go through my supplies and just use things I haven't yet, or make swatches of things like I did in the video below.  Maybe if you like to see things like this  like I do then you'll really enjoy it!

Sketchbook mermaid in black ink ©Johnny Perez

Sketchbook mermaid in blue ink ©Johnny Perez

At the end of the day this was a fun exercise for me, and I hope you get some enjoyment or even much needed info from my use of these pens, pencils, and brushes.   If there's a tool that I use that I haven't covered then let me know!   Otherwise whenever I get new tools I'll share my progress with you on them!

"Dark Skies" - Ink on Paper - 9x12 inches ©Johnny Perez

Weapons of Mass Creation used in this video:

• Pentel Twist-Erase Mechanical Pencil size 0.5mm
• PaperMate Clickster Grip Mechanical Pencil (2 colors) size 0.5mm (colored lead)
• Sakura GellyRoll Gel Ink Pens in various colors, including glitter and metallic ink
• Pentel Pocket Brush Pen
• Pentel Color Brush Pen
• Pentel AquaBrush size small
• D Stationery Pen Lt. Blue size 0.38mm
• Sakura Pigma Micron Pen sizes 02 and 05
• Prismacolor Turquoise Lead Holder size 2mm