Best Gel Pens For Coloring (Top Picks, Glitter & Adult Options) - ImprintNow.Com
10% OFF On Your Order! Use Code: SAVE10 DETAILS

Best Gel Pens For Coloring: Smooth Options, Durability, And Coloring Tips

Gel pens are a popular choice for coloring as they offer vibrant pigments, smooth ink flow, and diverse effects. Whether for adult coloring books or artwork, they offer a fun and stress-relieving experience, but there are many options available.

In this guide, we explore top features of gel pens, recommended brands, and expert tips to get the most out of them. Whether you’re a seasoned artist or a beginner, let us show you why the right gel pens can elevate your coloring experience.

Best Gel Pens For Coloring: Smooth Options, Durability, And Coloring Tips

Key Takeaways

  • Gel pens provide smooth ink flow and vibrant colors, but the right type of your depends on ink type and durability.
  • Some pens are designed for travel-friendly coloring, while glitter gel pens can enhance any artwork with shimmering effects.
  • Proper storage and maintenance are important to extend the lifespan of your gel pens, so be diligent with these factors.
  • We supply high-quality custom gel pens and other pen types that can be personalized for yourself or branded as promotional items for your business.

Best Gel Pens For Coloring

The best gel pens for coloring stand out for their smooth ink application, vibrant colors, and long-lasting durability. Many artists choose gel pens over traditional markers or colored pencils as they are able to glide effortlessly across the page. Unlike other pen types, gel pens require very little pressure so they are comfortable for extended coloring sessions.

A high-quality gel pen offers benefits like:

  • Fade-resistant ink: This ensures your artwork stays bright over time.
  • Water-resistant or quick-drying formulas: This prevents smudging and smearing.
  • Various tip sizes: From ultra fine for details to broader tips for bold strokes.

If you are wondering about the best gel pens for coloring, top-rated choices include brands like Sakura Gelly Roll, Arteza, and Pentel. The best color gel pens come in sets, often featuring glitter, metallic, and pastel hues to add creative depth.


Explore the options in our online store, like the matte cover plastic gel pen, for high-quality pens you can personalize to match your aesthetic needs.

a large selection of gel pens for best gel pens for coloring

Best Gel Pens For Adult Coloring

Adult coloring books often feature intricate designs that need precise, smooth ink flow to complete. The best gel pens for adult coloring offer features like vibrant pigmentation, fine tips for detailing, and special ink effects like glitter and metallic finishes.

Many artists choose gel pens over colored pencils as they deliver bolder, more defined lines without excessive pressure. Other advantages of gel ink include:

  • Quick-drying ink: This prevents smudging, ensuring a clean and polished result.
  • Range of colors: There are unique shades that aren’t typically found in traditional coloring supplies.

Some of the best gel pens for adult coloring come from brands like ColorIt, Sakura Gelly Roll, and Aen Art, known for smooth performance and fade-resistant ink.


Studies have found that coloring might reduce anxiety and also improve mindful atention and creative cognition. A well-designed ergonomic grip makes coloring more comfortable, reducing hand fatigue for longer sessions to reap those benefits.

Best Gel Pens For Art And Drawing

Gel pens are an excellent choice for artists who want to add detail, precision, and vibrant color to their work. When you compare gel pens vs ballpoint ink, you find that the former offer smoother ink flow with minimal skipping, so they are ideal for intricate designs.

Artists love to use gel pens for sketching, doodling, and mixed media projects as they allow for layering and blending different colors. Some of the best gel pens for art include:

  • Uni-Ball Signo
  • Pentel Hybrid Gel
  • Sakura Gelly Roll

Our gel pens are also known for their high-quality pigments and long-lasting ink. These brands, and ourselves, offer a wide variety of colors that includes metallics and pastels for unique artistic possibilities.

Many artists incorporate gel pens into their work to add fine highlights, shading effects, and added dimension. Gel pens are versatile tools, so they are a must-have for artists who want to enhance their work with precision and bold color.

Best Gel Pens For Artists

Professional artists need gel pens that offer reliability, rich color saturation, and consistent ink flow. The best gel pens for artists need archival-quality ink that resists fading over time so that they are suitable for detailed illustrations and fine art projects.

Popular brands to achieve smooth writing and bold colors include:

  • Pilot G2
  • Uni-Ball Signo
  • Pentel EnerGel

Artists often prefer fine-tip gel pens for intricate linework, while medium-tip pens provide more coverage for bold accents.

Another key consideration is the pen’s grip, as ergonomic designs help present hand fatigue. If you are creating custom products for business to market to artists, you need to consider these key design features. Some gel pens even offer refillable ink cartridges, making them a more sustainable investment for artists who use them frequently.


Whether you work on sketchbooks, mixed media artwork, or even calligraphy, high-quality gel pens provide outstanding control and vibrancy.

Make a strong impression with custom Gel Pens

Work with us to create high-quality custom Gel Pens with your unique branding to raise awareness and ensure professional-looking promotional products that your customers or clients will love.

How To Choose The Right Gel Pens For Your Coloring Style?

Selecting the right gel pens depends only on our unique coloring style and personal preferences. From fine tips to shimmering finishes, let’s look at some features that make the best gel pens for artists in different scenarios:

  • Intricate detailing: Fine-tip gel pens (0.5mm or smaller) offer precise control and smooth lines.
  • Bold coloring: For a more expressive style, medium- or broad-tip gel pens (0.7mm to 1mm) are your best option.
  • Shimmering effects: Metallic or glitter pens offer this to help accent artwork.
  • Smudge-free performance: Quick-drying ink is essential, particularly for left-handed users.

Paper type is another important consideration, as some gel pens will bleed through thin pages. Also, look for ergonomic grips to minimize hand strain during long sessions. A variety pack with multiple ink types can be good for creative flexibility.


Whether for yourself or for merchandise or promotional products for your audience, work with us to create slick plastic gel pens and a range of other types. We offer various solutions to get the results you want from your pens, with the ability to add custom designs or branding to the pens for a personalized look.

coloring pens spilling out of a black case for best gel pens for coloring

Tips For Maintaining Gel Pen Longevity

Proper care will extend the lifespan of your gel pens, ensuring they continue to deliver a smooth and functional performance for art and coloring. From storage orientation and optimal temperatures, let’s look at the ideal storage conditions for gel pens:

  • Horizontal storage: This will help prevent ink from settling unevenly.
  • Capped: Make sure all pens are capped tightly so that they don’t dry out.
  • Cool, dry place: Store pens somewhere cool and dry to help maintain ink consistency.

If a pen stops flowing, try shaking it or gently scribbling on scrap paper to revive it. Some high-quality gel pens are refillable, making them a cost-effective and eco-friendly choice.


Clean your pen tips ergularly to prevent ink build-up. This is particularly important for glitter and metallic gel pens. Invest in a sturdy storage case to prevent them from getting lost or damaged. Consider a leather journal notebook or other high-quality paper pad for sketching and jotting ideas whenever inspiration calls.

Need custom Gel Pens for your next promotional giveaway or other project?

We can bring your designs to life on custom Gel Pens for personal expression, branding, or other promotional purposes, offering diverse customization options to make a connection.

Explore options for custom Gel Pens

Why Are Glitter Gel Pens Perfect For Coloring Books?

Glitter gel pens work well for coloring books because they add a dazzling effect to your coloring projects, making them a favorite choice for enhancing artwork. Studies show that emergency department patients can be relaxed in waiting rooms by providing them with coloring books, and this is something that translates to everyday life. With this shimmering ink, you can add a unique texture that stands out in your coloring.

These pens are excellent for things like:

  • Highlighting details
  • Adding accents
  • Creating sparkling backgrounds

Unlike traditional colored pencils or markers, glitter gel pens feature quick-drying ink that prevents smudging. This makes them an ideal choice for detailed work, and they blend will with other coloring tools to create layered effects.


Whether in adult coloring books or even DIY projects, glitter gel pens add an extra dimension of fun and creativity. Try brands like ColorIt, Tanmit, and Sakura for high-quality options.

Are Gel Pens Good For Arts And Crafts Projects?

Gel pens can be a fantastic addition to arts and crafts projects as they offer precision, vibrant colors, and smooth application. They have an ability to glide effortlessly on paper, making them an ideal choice for things like:

  • Scrapbooking
  • Greeting cards
  • Intricate hand lettering

Unlike markers, gel pens are great for detailed embellishments. You can use them to add fine accents or write on decorative surfaces. Many crafters prefer to use glitter, metallic, and pastel gel pens as they create unique textures and visual effects.

These pens can be used on both dark and light colored paper, providing versatility in mixed-media art. Some gel pens even offer benefits like waterproof or archival-quality ink, ensuring durability over time.


Gel pens rank among the top types of promotional products with logos as they are elegant and practical. They can be used for personalized DIY projects, bullet journals, and handmade gifts, and you can brand them to ensure your business is always at the front of the user’s mind.

Customize Gel Pens with bespoke or branded designs and make an impression

We supply high-quality custom Gel Pens with your unique designs and an array of customization options to deliver for your aesthetic and functional needs.

Why Are Gel Pens Good For Coloring?

Gel pens offer a superior coloring experience due to their smooth ink flow, vibrant hues, and precise control. Markers or colored pencils can’t deliver the same as they don’t deliver the same rich pigmentation with minimal pressure.

Gel pens have fine tips for intricate detailing, so they are ideal choices for things like:

  • Adult coloring books
  • Mandalas
  • Complex designs

Additionally, gel pens are available in unique varieties like glitter, metallic, pastel, and neon, each offering a distinctive artistic effect.

One of the biggest advantages of gel pens for coloring is that you can use them to blend and layer colors without smudging. High-quality gel pens, like our urbane plastic gel pen, dry quickly, reducing the risk of smearing. There are also many pens that produce fade-resistant ink for long-lasting results.

Whether you seek bold, eye-catching effects or subtle shading techniques, gel pens are unparalleled for the creative flexibility they offer.

Why Are Gel Pens Good For Adult Coloring Books?

Adult coloring books often feature intricate designs that require precision and smooth ink flow, and these are two qualities where gel pens excel. With their fine tips, they are great for detailed work, delivering crisp lines with vibrant coloring. Additionally, there are various ink types for gel pens, including glitter, neon, and metallic.

The best gel pens for adult coloring are quick-drying so smudging is never a concern. Many colorists actually prefer gel pens for their stress-relieving benefits, as the smooth glide of the ink across paper is very relaxing. Colored pencils require frequent sharpening, but gel pens provide consistent color output without fading, and some even offer refillable cartridges.


One of the biggest mistakes to avoid when using promotional products is to give people things that are not useful to them. This is never the case with gel pens if your target audience includes students, artists, or other creatives. Whether for filling in small patterns or bold sections, gel pens offer versatility and vibrancy to bring adult coloring books to life.

a man working on some art for best gel pens for coloring

Why Gel Pens Are Ideal For Travel Coloring?

Gel pens are perfect for coloring while travelling because they offer compact size, easy use, and vibrant ink. Markers are bulky and prone to leakage, but gel pens are lightweight and portable. Many gel pens are available in sturdy cases so you can keep them organized on-the-go.

Another benefit of gel pens is that they don’t require sharpening like colored pencils. This makes them a hassle-free choice for road trips, flights, or outdoor coloring sessions. The best gel pens for travel feature quick-drying ink so you never need to worry about smudging during transit.

Some gel pen brands even offer retractable designs, so you don’t need to worry about separate cape. With this versatility, you can create detailed artwork in any setting from cafes to scenic parks. And you can create mixed-media works by combining other lightweight, travel-friendly things like custom-shaped stickers.


Whether you’re an artist or a hobbyist, a reliable set of gel pens ensures you can create vibrant, expressive art wherever inspiration strikes.

Looking for an affordable solution for custom Gel Pens?

With our online service, you have a fast, reliable way to customize Gel Pens with high-quality craftsmanship at affordable prices. We offer a range of benefits and hassle-free solutions.

Get started with custom Gel Pens

Frequently Asked Questions About Best Gel Pens For Coloring

What Are The Best Gel Pens For Coloring Books?

The best gel pens for coloring books are those that deliver a smooth ink flow, rich pigmentation, and quick-drying properties. Glitter and metallic pens add flair, while fine-tip pens are great for intricate details.

Are Gel Pens Good For Coloring Books?

Yes, gel pens are great for coloring books as they offer smooth ink flow and a variety of colors. They are more vibrant than coloring pencils and easier to control than markers, and can prevent smudging and bleeding.

Related articles


Saving Design