Yes the surface still feels glossy. Any of the excess ink I wipe with my finger and keep wiping until it is all gone. With this particular pen, that system works rather well. Even the next day there was a little build up that I had missed and I just wiped it with my finger and the excess only came right off. Maybe I'm just lucky but it seems to work rather well. I was wondering the whole time I was doing it because of the way the surface feels am I going to be able to touch this guy again without it smearing. So I decided to just do the panel lining in sections. First his torso, then his arms, the n one leg and then the other. In between each one setting him down for approx. 10-15 min. to let the ink dry a little. Then after I was all done I held him by the die-cast "swing bars" and used a hair dryer on low to help the drying process. Then I just set him on the shelf and the next day. Vvuaallla....he's all good and ready to pose.