pen 18: pilot g-2

i believe that this is the first gel pen that i've featured here. according to the back of its box, the pilot g series is the #1 selling gel pen... although it doesn't seen to specify the scope of the survey, does that mean in the world, the united states? meh whatever. these pens also boasts that they write twice as long as other gel pens, that they are refillable, they do have a rubber comfort grip, that they are super smooth when writing and they come in several sizes: ultra fine, extra fine, fine, and bold.

one of the things i have yet to really decide for this project is that many times the pen i am featuring comes in a variety of sizes, and sometimes color.

this particular pen is a great example of this, the drawing to the your right (stage left) was drawn (very quickly) with the bold, and largest, pen in this particular family, it seem good for things like laying down heavier lines, filling backgrounds, it flows well, (sometimes too well) and gets ink on the paper in a relatively short amount of time. the remaining drawings, the last six, were done using an 05, which i believe is the extra fine version.

okay. so i'm going to talk about the elephant in the room. gel ink.

there are two camps really to this issue, those who love them and those who don't.
i don't know if it was an urban legend or if it were true that the gel ink was toxic, all the research i've done (googled it and went to the first five listed result, exhaustive, i know) seem to all say that the are not toxic now... so i don't know what to make of it, however, as artists many of us handle toxic materials frequently so really it seems academic anyway. you probably shouldn't write on your arm (although i do all the time) anyway.

while i'm not a huge fan if gel pens, i will give the g-2 series it's props. these pens, especially the finer point ones, are great for fast sketches, blind (and non-blind) contour, and gesture drawings. the ink flows well and dries fairly fast, they dont weather an eraser very well so if you are erasing a graphite under-sketch you might have to go over the lines on more time, not the end of the world but then again not really ideal.
i think that these are pens that would go well in your sketchbook, especially if you ride public transportation, like to hang out in coffee shops and people watch, or out and about and have that thought that you just have to record before it wanders off and you forget.

for what they are these pens are pretty good, they are versatile, they last for a while and i have yet to have one spring a leak on me, and that alone can mean the difference of a pair of jeans with huge black stains on your thigh, and not looking like you just peed black...

as for price, you can find a two pack most places for around $5, they do come in four packs as well at around the $10 range. these pens come in at least three other colors that i know of, those being blue, red, and green.

i would recommend that  you try out one of the smaller sized pens, if only to see what it does to your style, i often find that i draw differently with different pens, it might bring out elements of hidden style that has yet to be untapped...

or not, it might just be a good pen, and isn't that what we are searching for?