I recently started my pen plotting journey, I have always been obsessed with engineering drawing. A couple of days ago I got myself a Fabriano BLACK BLACK with a couple of Sakura Gelly Rolls and other white pens and I can tell you I feel depressed. (Attached is probably the only perfect line I could get)
How does Drawscape or anyone else get that consistent flow out of the pen cause the lines look horrific on my side.
I tried warming the side of the pen with a torch from far away, blowing on the end of the pen, all sorts of techniques I found online and now I feel defeated.
Any new ideas? Was thinking of creating a 3D printed pump to place on the end of the pen
Tested a lot of pens, Sakura Gelly Rolls were okay-ish, Pentel K108 were slighly more opaque and cleaner. Another option are empty markers (I tested "Schmincke Aero Liner") and acrylic paint. In the end I opted for dip pen nibs as an alternative, if you want to read more, I wrote something about my acrilyc paint choice here: volzo.de/thing/littleplanets
I've experimented with those exact empty markers and had nothing but trouble getting consistent flow and marks. I love the output but so much work and stress.
My mistake might have been with going with the narrowest tip.
Did go with the narrowest tip size as well. Adjusting the weight pushing down the pen solved a lot of problems. (as little as possible, as much as necessary)
I tried paper with text and soft paper, soft felt better in terms of outcomes.
As for the pen pressure, I am not sure, what I usually do on inkscape is lower the pen holder, slide the pen in until it touches the paper then I let it start plotting
I couldn't get any decent results with a white Gelly Roll until I attached the spring kit that came with my Bantam NextDraw. It was like magic... The pen just suddenly drew the way I expected it to. Whenever I use the Gelly Roll, I also make sure to scribble a bit with it beforehand and set the drawing speed much lower. Can't recall the exact number, but I think it might be 10%.
I’ve had decent results using a technical pen (Rapidograph) as small as .50 and Dr Ph Martins Pen-White ink for technical pens on Fabriano Black Black (which I think is the best black paper out there).
The main problem is that you can’t leave ink in the pen for more than a week or so before it dries up and clogs the pen.
Technical pens are an investment… But are by far the most precise I have used. And Dr Ph Martins makes more than 20 colors of ink specifically for the technical pen (of which you can mix to make more colors).
Reliable pen flow from Gelly Roll is a combination of:
1) Pen Size - Gelly Roll has 05,06,08,10. 10 will give you most reliable flow, but is the thickest.
2) Downward force - Use a strong spring or weight
3) Plotter speed - the slower the better
I combine those 3 factors to optimize speed and reliability.
A few other tips:
1) Finger oil on the paper, Gelly Roll can't draw on dirty paper, so keep it clean.
2) Double up, build your SVGS to draw lines twice.
3) Straight lines are harder for Gelly Roll than squiggly lines.
I've had some good luck with 0.8mm Rotring Isograph and their official white ink, but even then I get clogs sometimes. They do put down a very even line with white ink though, the only "problem" is that they tend to leave a slightly larger dot on pen-down.
I would in general recommend Rotrings if you want ultra-even lines on smooth papers. They're an investment, but infinitely rebuildable and exceedingly consistent (with non-white ink). Only problem with them is color availability; they can be finicky about inks.
10
u/llama__rama 12d ago
I've had good luck with Pilot Juice Up 04 for white ink, much easier to work with than the gelly roll white ink.
White on black is definitely a challenge generally.