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One of my favorite pens to use with a pen plotter (such as an AxiDraw) are Sakura gelly roll pens! They come in many color flavors from classic white, and metallic gold, to even fluorescent options such as the Moonlight gelly rolls which will glow under UV light! They work great on dark paper (and white paper!)
Example Pen Plots Using Gelly Roll Pens: Black Paper Edition
Nothing beats white ink on black paper! The ink density that builds over time as pen lines overlap is quite lovely.
White gelly rolls create strong white lines on black paper as in this work by Diana (@di_diff_world on Instagram!)
Metallic gelly rolls also really pop on black paper such as this generative work by Vernon Miller (@aldernero on Instagram!)
Mix metallic gelly rolls for a rainbow effect as in this work by Adam Spannbauer (@thespanningset on Instagram!)
Truchet tiles never looked better drawn with a white gelly roll on black paper – example art by Floris de Jonge (@dejongefloris on Instagram.)
Gelly Roll Pens: Beautiful & Annoying All At Once
While you can achieve beautiful results with gelly roll pens, they can also be very trying to work with when it comes to pen plotting. But why?! The ink flow from these pens can be quite inconsistent. For this reason, I have found that the best gelly roll pens for plotting are medium width (I steer clear of fine gelly rolls!)
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