Whether it is to jot down our professor’s hasty dictation or to doodle at the corners of our notebooks, we have all used ball pens at one point or the other. But not everyone could have thought of transforming those doodles into a career. In this article, we will briefly discuss 7 artists who have enthralled us with their ball point pen art. Their hyperrealistic artwork spreads across multiple subjects, motivating people to pick up their discarded ball pens and get to drawing.
James Mylne
James Mylne is a London-born artist who has chosen Bic biro to curate a truly wonderful collection of ball pen art. He admits that he was transfixed by the brilliance of a ball pen, even if his teachers wanted him to steer away from it. Although his artwork isn’t devoid of pencil, which he uses to outline his drawings, he uses ballpen to detail the hardest parts of the composition. He glides his pen with an almost scratch-like effect to shade and contour his paintings. While most of his ball pen art has a hint of politics, readers might best know him for his rendition of Johannes Vermeer’s 1665 classic ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’, which he modernised to devise ‘Girl With Prada Sunglasses.’
Samuel Silva
It definitely came as a shock to us when we learnt that the Portugal-based artist, Samuel Silva is a self-taught ball pen artist. A lawyer by education, he doesn’t draw that often, but when he does, it is hard to believe that his realistic drawings were a result of only ball pens. The ink of the ball pens dries quickly, but that doesn’t stop Silva from deluding the audience. To give an illusion of blending in his ball point pen art, he meticulously shades his subjects using cross-hatching.
Alfredo Chamal
What is so unique about Mexican artist, Alfredo Chamal’s ball pen art? Why, it is their photorealistic quality. From afar it gives an illusion of a photographer’s triumph. Only when you come close would you realize that it is a masterclass in large-scale ball point pen art. The only way we can describe his artworks is contemporary realism. Chamal’s drawings are often a window into his subject’s psyche; an imaginative world which although invisible is extremely real. Due to his work, he has become a trailblazer in the New Mexican Psychorealism movement.
Juan Francisco Casas
Juan Francisco Casas is a Spanish painter, who has worked with numerous mediums. However, it is his ball pen art that continues to intrigue his global audiences. In 2004, Casas submitted one of his ball point pen art to the ABC Awards (dominated by oil paintings). Even though he wasn’t extremely sure about his work, he ended up winning second place. While drawing is a cakewalk for him, he goes into an offensive mode, towards the end of his artwork lest his hours of hard work be ruined by an unerasable mistake. Although he started by drawing on simple sheets (A3 and A4), now he mostly draws his hyper-realistic ball pen art on canvases towering over 10 feet.
Oscar Ukonu
Most artists rarely leave the pencil. However, it wasn’t the case for Nigerian artist Oscar Ukonu who left the comfort of pencil for the uncertainty of the ballpoint pen. Each of his ball pen art takes about 200 – 400 hours to complete which is a testimony to his patience. Since joining architecture school, he hasn’t left ball pens, which have quickly become his preferred tool. Through his hyperrealistic paintings, Ukonu tends to inform his viewers of the diversity and heritage that is indigenous to African culture. They also describe the harsh realities of being black both in the western & foreign lands and in his native town. His work is seldom considered the progenitor of Afrorrealism.
Andrey Poletaev
For Ukrainian artist Andrey Poletaev, ballpoint pens are a necessity. Although his subject choice is quite simple (portraits and cityscapes), what make his ball pen art hyper-realistic are the shading, nuances, and expressions. His drawings capture the liveliness and the fast life of the city. Although he has dabbled in colours, he prefers to use black ink more. Almost photographic, there is an unexpected fluidity in his artwork. The use of lights and shadows is also quite visible in his work. On average, he applies about 20 layers of ink and spends hundreds of hours on each piece.
Marite Desaine
Marite Desaine is a Latvian ball pen artist who prefers to revel in the cacophonies of colourful and vivid atmospheres. Despite her proficiency in ball point pen art, she has forayed into paintings and digital prints (which are equally enchanting.) In her Instagram post, she has bid adieu to ball pen art, hinting that she may return to it someday. A master draftswoman, her artwork is cheered on for evoking universal emotions that certain weather may bring. In addition to atmospheres, she also did still life, showcasing vibrant colours.
Photo Courtesy – The Art Box
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Sub Editor at Abir Pothi
