Somehow it happened that a pen, ball or gel, is recognized only as a tool with which you can write, but certainly not draw. The only exceptions are scribbles in the abstracts. However, I really want to refute the prevailing stereotype, because I know for sure: drawings with a gel pen, like a ballpoint pen, can be real masterpieces. These tools are suitable for drawing no worse than the same pencils, pastels and other art materials.
Personally, I do not use preliminary pencil sketches when creating my drawings, since my hand is already full. However, it is better for novice artists to sketch with a pencil what they would like to depict. After all, erasing ink with an elastic band is not possible, and in order to create a drawing with a gel pen, you need a solid hand and confident movements. If the brush falters, fixing the drawing will not be easy. The complexity of gel ink drawing lies in the fact that, no matter how hard you press the rod, the lines from under it will come out the same in saturation. You can only reduce the thickness of the lines by holding the handle at a slight slope. Therefore, when creating really beautiful drawings with a
gel pen, it is very important to pay attention to hatching when applying shadows and partial shadows. In the darkest places, the surface will have to be shaded, or, more simply, painted over. And in order to smoothly transition from a shaded area to a lighter one, it will be necessary to make strokes - more and more rare, coming to naught.
With a ballpoint pen in this regard a little easier. In this case, the saturation of the tone can be adjusted precisely by pressing: the stronger it is, the sharper and sharper the line. A barely noticeable movement of the rod on the paper gives pale, slightly visible lines. And small defects can be carefully removed using either a rough eraser or a special clerical putty, better known as “Barcode”. True, the paper in this case should also be white, and the “Stroke” layer should be thin and paint over just what is needed. When using a rough eraser, it is worth considering that the paper should be sufficiently thick. It is unacceptable, correcting the drawings with a black pen, rubbing too hard. You can simply make a hole.
But no matter what pen you draw, keep in mind that this is not a pencil, which you can grind if necessary to get some volume. Although, strictly speaking, rubbing and it is not accepted. Drawings in which rubbing is traced are considered to be a bad manners and a sign of unprofessionalism of the artist. Therefore, creating drawings with a gel pen (or ballpoint), achieve a three-dimensional image only by hatching. And these are not straight lines. If, when drawing a ball, you shade it like a ruler, even if you take into account the shadows and light, you will get just a flat circle. To achieve volume, the direction of the strokes should not be thoughtless, but as if repeating the contours of the ball. The same goes for other items. Therefore, before creating drawings with a gel pen or a ballpoint pen, practice
pencil hatching: work out all directions and types of monochrome fill, pressure, gradation, uniformity, etc. After all, hatching should maintain the shape of the object, and not distort it if it is not required by either other individual elements of the picture.