10 Best gel pens for coloring
Here are the best gel pens for coloring. When it comes to coloring books, having the right pens makes all the difference, especially for detailed designs or bold patterns. The best gel pens for coloring books glide smoothly, dry quickly, and come in rich, vibrant shades.
From metallic gel pens to glitter sets that shimmer on the page, there are so many fun options out there.
So if you are hunting for art gel pens or looking for adult coloring gel pens that won’t bleed through, this guide will help you find your new favorite set.
I’ll go over the best gel pen sets that I think you will enjoy using.
I’ve tested a lot of gel pens while filming videos for my YouTube channel, where I share coloring tutorials and reviews. I love how colorful gel pens can bring a page to life, especially in my favorite books and printables.
The sparkle or the shine from metallic pens just hits different on camera, and over time, I’ve found a few tried-and-true favorites that I reach for again and again.
Coco Wyo Coloring Book With Gel Pens
Best Gel Pens For Coloring
1. Shuttle Art Gel Pens
Colorful gel pens make any artwork pop, especially when you’re filling in tiny details or adding a creative twist. This set has 360 gel pens so you are going to pretty much have everything you will ever need in one set.
2. 312 Adult coloring gel pens
I have a big stash of adult coloring gel pens because they’re great for adding bright pops of color and smooth lines to my favorite designs.
One thing I love to do with sets like these are use the glittery ones for when I’m coloring beauty coloring books because then I can put the sparkle on the nail polish bottles.
3. 160 gel pen set
Coloring books pens are made to glide smoothly over the page without bleeding through, which makes them a great choice for detailed designs. This set here is one of the top sellers.
With a wide range of shades including glitter, metallic, pastel, and neon, it’s good for both coloring and scrapbooking. The smooth ink flow and vibrant hues can be used on all types of papers from smooth to watercolor.
4. Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pens
These are some of the best glitter gel pens for coloring. I’ve been using this brand for years and can tell you that over this time, I’ve only run into a few not working properly and this is literally over almost 15 years of using them.
5. Gelly Roll With White Gels
If you’re just getting started with coloring, this set is a great pick, especially because it comes with a set of white gel pens. White gel pens are a must for adding highlights, details, and little touches that really stand out. It’s a simple way to level up your coloring or journaling.
6. best white gel pens
The Sakura store has some of the best white gel pens for artists. When I’m looking for a white art pen, I need good flow so that it doesn’t skip on the page. White paint pens can be used too, but for fine details, these sets are fantastic.
Just a quick note on the white gel pens, they come in different tip sized. I use the fine tip the most but there are fine to bold.
7. Black gel pen set
This black gel pen set is for shading and adding depth. It includes tones from light grey to deep black, which makes it fun to experiment with shadows and contrast.
Plus, this set throws in some glitter and metallics, which gives you that extra sparkle when you want to make your pages pop. I like to use metallics for borders and they really stand out on the page.
8. Neon Gel Pens
I love these gel pens for adult coloring books and have used Sakura so many times over the years. Neon gel pens are so much fun for adding bold pops of color to your pages.
You can use them to highlight designs, create glowing effects, or make your patterns really stand out. They’re also great for adding fun little accents to scrapbooks and cards!
9. metallic gel pen set
One thing any colorist should have in their stash are metallic shades. Here’s a set of some of the best gel pens for coloring on amazon that come in shiny metallic colors. I chose this set for this list because they have great reviews but I have not tried this set out yet myself.
They can be used for coloring books, scrapbooking projects, and even handmade cards. I love how they catch the light and make simple designs feel a little extra special!
10. Gold Silver White Gel Pens
A brand I use often is Ohuhu. Their gel pens are super smooth and the colors pop so nicely. You can use them in coloring books, on cards, and even for little doodles. They’re a fun, easy choice when you use a lot of white, gold and silver.
tips for coloring with gel pens
how to blend with gel pens
To blend with gel pens, start by coloring your first shade and while it’s still wet, layer your second color right next to it, gently overlapping. Use small, quick strokes to lightly mix the two shades together. It takes a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you can make really soft, pretty blends!
gel pen coloring techniques
One of my favorite gel pen coloring techniques is layering light colors over dark ones to create a glowing effect.
You can also try cross-hatching, where you layer lines in different directions to build up color and texture. Gel pens are super fun because you can mix glitter, metallic, and neon shades all in one design!
best coloring books for gel pens
You might be asking, what are the best coloring books for gel pens? Well, the nice thing about gel pens is that they glide on really smooth paper and also heavy watercolor papers too.
Personally, I like to use gel pens for details. So mandala coloring books or floral coloring books are fantastic for gel pens.
A brand of coloring books that I really enjoy are the Coco Wyo, they have little details that are great for gel pens.
So you can pretty much use any type of coloring book for your gel pens. There’s lots of free printable gel pen coloring pages right here on this blog too! Some coloring pages you might want to try are these cute fluffy cat printables and cozy words coloring pages.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have found the perfect set of gel pens for coloring.
