All About Gelly Rolls!
Mon, May 16, 2011 at 08:59PM 
Gelly Rolls write smoothly, effortlessly, consistently... my collection continues to grow because the ink flow is magical, the colors are luscious, they last a long time, and they aren't expensive! Once the ink is dry, it is permanent and waterproof... after a few minutes you can close your moleskine and throw it in your purse.
Doodled in pitt pen, colored with Gelly Rolls.
I've put together a little overview for you plus a palette with a little color swatch and the color code number from the pen. I made the palette on plain white copy paper. The black line next to the first color of each pen shows that color over a black line in pitt pen so you can get an idea of how each type looks over the lines in a sketch or doodle. Please don't rely on these color swatches, but I hope they are helpful.
STARDUST
First up: Sakura Gelly Roll - Stardust. These babies draw a .5mm line (1mm roller-ball nib) and come in 12 colors plus clear. The line is translucent + sparkly on white paper.
Stardust pens have a shooting star on the transparent lid and on the body of the pen. There's a dot of the ink color in the inside of the lid. Like the other types, the bodies are transparent so you can see the color of the ink and how much is left.
GLAZE
Glaze pens have translucent lids and "Glaze" on the body of the pen.
This mandala was colored with Glaze pens.
This accordian book was drawn mostly in Glaze pens.
These are too cool. Sakura - Glaze pens have a .7mm line (.8mm roller-ball tip), and draw raised, shiny translucent {almost transparent} ink. Per the Sakura site, these are "Glaze" which are not considered "Gelly Rolls." The ink is the "wettest" of the Gelly Rolls and actually looks a little puddly if you hold in the same spot and just move a little bit. The tip is precise and these are great for coloring in detailed doodles - you can see through to the original doodle and get the ink in tight spaces. The ink dries in about a minute. Glaze pens are sold in sets of 10.
Curious about the art materials I use for drawing, doodling, painting and art journaling?
CLASSIC {FINE and MEDIUM}
FINE TIP
Fine tip pens have "FINE" on the body of the pen and opaque lids.
Mandala in black fine point.
red.orange is in an altered book, the quote is written in black fine point doodled with moonlight pens.
The Sakura Gelly Roll - Fine pens draw a .3mm line (6mm roller ball tip) and write in a thin opaque line. The ink is semi-opaque over black pitt pen. They come in 6 colors including black. The ink takes a few seconds longer to dry than a pitt pen, so with a pitt pen I don't worry at all about smearing the ink but with a Gelly Roll I would be more careful about where I rest my hand when I draw.
MEDIUM TIP
Sakura Gelly Roll - Medium pens draw a 4mm line (.8 roller ball nib). They have "MED" on the body of the pen and most have sparkly translucent lids. They come in 11 colors including black. The ink is semi-opaque over black pitt pen.
The white writing in the center is medium point white marker on black paper. There's also white pen on black gesso on an art journal page I call Grunge Sun.
red.black is a page in an altered book with a quote in white medium point on a background of acrylic paint.
METALLIC + MOONLIGHT
METALLIC
Sakura Gelly Roll - Metallic pens draw a .4mm line (1mm roller-ball tip) and come in 10 colors. The line is thin and shiny and the colors more muted than other Gelly Rolls. You can buy them in sets or individually. Metallic pens say "Metallic" on the body of the pen and lids are sparkly translucent. The ink is semi-opaque over black pitt pen. They look gorgeous on black or white paper.
MOONLIGHT
Sakura Gelly Roll - Moonlight pens draw a .5mm line (the ball is 1mm) and write in "luminous gel ink that glows under black light" {per Blick site}, opaque on black or white paper. These pens come in 10 colors, half are fluorescent; the ink is opaque over black pitt pen. Each pen has a moon imprint on the lid and the body of the pen.
An art journal page with journaling in fine tip, medium tip and moonlight Gelly Rolls. {details here}.
Art journalists and doodlers love these pens! The fine and medium tips, the moonlight and the metallic write on most surfaces. The stardust do as well, but I've destroyed several trying to write on acrylic on top of fiber paste!
Reader Comments (12)
Thanks for the review! I wanted to order these on dickblick.com but wasn't sure what the difference between different "types" were. Now I know!
Terrific job!
I have loved these pens ever since high school! As you said - they are smooth, luscious, and very doodle-worthy. The Glaze ones do puddle nicely, making perfect little (raised) dots anywhere you want them. Bliss!
Everybody is so in love with these pens that I wonder what's wrong with mine! I made this huge effort to order some and get them here in Germany and half of them don't seem to work. I can't get some of them going and other ones won't flow and behave like they're running out although they're too new to be out of ink. I'm wondering if mine got frozen on a truck or something in the middle of winter. Clearly I'll have to give them another chance...
Your doodles are SO beautiful. This inspires me to make my own little color swatch so I know the colors I like the best...
These are delicious!! I adore your doodles. I hope you don't mind me having a go at copying one or two doodles so I can get the hang of how to construct my own. I usually get stuck with the same 'fill in' patterns or colours, or just plain stuck on covering the pages with stars or something. I've been wanting to doodle better but need to come unstuck!
BTW I've put your button on the top of my sidebar so I can hop over quickly for inspiration when I'm not on my RSS reader. I've not come across a site quite like yours for great ideas and especially the how to's.
I have always loved stationery and pens. I just love the staedtler fineliners at the moment... and Smiggle (an Aussie company) do an amazing needle point pen with a highlighter at the opp end which is great for instant colour on the go! But I've got to get me some of these jelly rolls after your awesome review!
Such a useful (and very decorative) post Tammy! I'm very grateful to know the differences and appreciate the time and effort you put into this post!!
Cool post! I've been meaning to try the faux watercolor technique where you use a waterbrush after drawing with the gelly pens, before they become permanent.
Another wonderful informative, inspiring post. Thanks for your efforts and inkspiration :)
Great post, thank you for all the info.
Love to hear reviews on art supplies, well worth the visit to your site! :]
A lot of time and effort went into this post, it is greatly valued.
Can you believe I haven't tried them? I will definitely get some because you made them look fabulous!
Thank you so much for this review! I currently use fine tip Sharpie markers in all different colors. Can you tell me why the gelly rolls etc would be better??? Some pros and cons to my sharpie markers?? Love your doodles! They are amazing!
thanks for this!! I have a few, sparkly and glaze, but wasn't really sure about the differences between all the different types, and how to tell them apart! I love your doodles, and the Gelly Roll pens are very colorful!!
Deb, I'm actually working on a post comparing some other markers and that should go live in a few days. Basically, I like the crisp, consistent line of gelly rolls or pitt pens (i.e. fine or super fine) over the sharpies. On watercolor paper, sharpies bleed/feather and the lines just aren't crisp. So it really has to do with what you draw and how you draw, and different markers meet different needs. My daughters love sharpie ultra-fines and they draw a lot with them, so we have the 36-pack! So stay posted!!!