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Ballpoint Pen for Drawing and Painting

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Hakan Unlu

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Posted
Hello I am experimenting with the ballpoint pen for drawing and painting for a while and wonder what other people think about this medium. I believe everybody has used it to scribble when nothing else was available but has anybody considered it as a serious medium and used it regularly. I will be happy to learn from your experience. I am using it for almost two years. I first used black ballpoint pen only. And recently started to experiment with color ballpoint pens. Black and white ballpoint drawings give a similar effect as etching and printing. I am still new with color ballpoint pens and trying to learn how to mix colors with the limited palette I have. Thanks...

D Hillman

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Posted
It might be a bit unforgiving for my talents but if it works then why not? I particularly like the artwork on currency notes and a ball point is accurate enough to reproduce such a style.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, NAPA

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The only problem with ballpoint pens - leaving aside that they can produce a rather thick line - is that the ink changes over time: black tends to turn a brownish shade, blue can do all sorts of horrible things; this doesn't matter if you're planning on reproducing drawings in pigmented inks and prints, or if your drawings are tucked away in a sketchbook - but having done the latter, I find the ink does in time bleed through the paper and can mark the page beneath. So not a medium if you're hoping for permanence - Indian or other pigment inks are much better for that, if a touch harder to apply. As a matter of sober preference, incidentally - I've scribbled away with the best and worst of them, over any spare scrap of paper, in ballpoint pen; but I don't like them as drawing implements, they're just ubiquitous and convenient.

Alan Bickley

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Posted
I never write or sign anything with a ballpoint pen, I have a dislike for them. However, I have used them in the past for sketching, generally the thin point ones, a yellow stem as they were then, BIC of course. I've still got sketches from years ago in a few old sketchbooks, they have faded a bit but for simple sketchbook reference they are fine. Wouldn't be my first choice mind you.

Sylvia Evans

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hakanunlu You have produced some interesting work with your ball point pens. But I’m interested as to why you would want to consider them as a serious medium for drawing. I have actually used them myself and they skitter around the page happily and smoothly . But I don’t like the uniformity of the line they produce I like a bit of unpredictability, thin, thick, blots and lovely pieces of magic that happens with other types of pen. If you look further into the forum here you will see that Alan Bickley wants some reeds to make his own pens I know he will produce some interesting work with a pen of that nature or even an old fashioned dip pen. Roberts comments about fading and colour change are quite pertinant so not much good for longevity. Though if you live in the U K a good free source of ballpoint pens are the local bank. There are usually pots of them there for the taking.