Part-time artist creates stunning drawings with standard ballpoint pens.

Portuguese Lawyer and part-time artist Samuel Silva can dedicate up to 60hrs creating one of his visual masterpieces, all done with standard Bic ballpoint pens.

couriermail.com

The colours are not mixed nor blended. "Ballpoint pen ink dries instantly and can not be erased," said Silva. "I just cross hatch the different colors in layers to create the illusion of blending and the illusion of colors I don't actually have."

I find his images fascinating in the way that he manages to capture a brief moment in time in amazing detail.

You can view more of his artwork here, gallery.... and here, deviantart.com.

Wow.......I thought I was a slave to detail but this guy takes the cake!
Some amazing artwork. I never knew you could get such rich colors from ball point pens.
Remember all the white is the paper so he must plan carefully every stroke.
Thanks for sharing this.

Incredible !

Actually, I don't think that even covers it.

I don't think there is a word to describe this, I am awestruck

Thanks for sharing this!! Some people's talent just leaves me in awe. Absolutely beautiful!

wow!
just what i needed after reading all the other depressing articles and depressing responses here on ats.

Something that makes you go 'wow!' and realize just how amazing life on earth can be.
thanks for sharing.

this is amazing!!!
i use a bic pen for some of my artwork.
mostly black,and mostly for pet portraits.
its funny,but a bic pen can offer the artist afeathery light grey shade,or wash,to a solid black filler and everything in between! its an amazing tool!
i'd like to know if this guy is using 'gel' bic pens for his colors,i have not come across these vibrant colors in regular bic pens. also mentioned,the ink on regular bic pens does NOT dry instantly! it takes a minuite!
try colouring in a small cirle solid,and press your finger on it -- you'll see!
but gel pens do dry fast!
any way the art work is fantastic!
i'm gonny try to post 2 pics i did way back in 1990 (my first attempts with a bic!)
hope they show up!

sorry couldnt pull em off my pc. they are jpeg files. help anyone!

Woooooooooow those are some awesome pics, nice to see some beauty through all this doom and gloom stuff lol

S&F and a 9,999,999 stars cause I can only star you once lol

fake

reply to post by Perhaps


Big Deal!!! I can easily do the same thing with a camera...

Originally posted by haven123
fake

Evidence please! Geez...

I think that words do a very poor job of expressing the emotions these images invoke...

To say that they are inspiring is an epic understatement. Hopefully the right people see this work, and the artist's talents will take him/her places!

One could travel the world with this kind of skill!

reply to post by Perhaps

Incredible!!! One pic took him 30 hours, wow! It is hard to believe this kind of work can be done with pens.
It reminds me of the artist Paul Lung, who takes weeks to finish one drawing. Man these guys must be zen masters to sit for so long, focusing on a small space and making tiny lines.
Nice find!

Peace,
spec

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Wow.......I thought I was a slave to detail but this guy takes the cake!
Some amazing artwork. I never knew you could get such rich colors from ball point pens.
Remember all the white is the paper so he must plan carefully every stroke.
Thanks for sharing this.

...Yeah... This is really cool.

Photorealism with a ballpoint pen.

Damn --- Thank you OP, today is goin'a be an art appreciation day for me I think.

reply to post by Perhaps


Dang what a great Bic commercial!
I bet this guy does not drink coffee!

Excellent work. Very detailed and wonderfully colourful.

Originally posted by Perhaps
Portuguese Lawyer and part-time artist Samuel Silva can dedicate up to 60hrs creating one of his visual masterpieces, all done with standard Bic ballpoint pens.

Other, less impressed people just call it COPYING.

He gets a PHOTOGRAPH somebody else has taken, and makes a COPY of it.

The Jaguar, for example. The original photo can be found here at this site.

reply to post by Perhaps


GTFO! He does not!

Seriously, good lord! I haven't read the article yet but I hope it gets into his process. Does he use only pens or does he draw out the pictures first in pencil than coloring in with the pens?

reply to post by alfa1

Other, less impressed people just call it COPYING. He gets a PHOTOGRAPH somebody else has taken, and makes a COPY of it. The Jaguar, for example. The original photo can be found

Even if they are copies of photographs, the fact that they are done with pen is extremely impressive. Any medium that can can almost copy a picture in exact detail is impressive to me, but the fact that pens were used is just incredible.

Beautiful vibrant work , by a very talented artist.

he could've drawn a better looking baby...

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by Perhaps
Portuguese Lawyer and part-time artist Samuel Silva can dedicate up to 60hrs creating one of his visual masterpieces, all done with standard Bic ballpoint pens.

Other, less impressed people just call it COPYING.

He gets a PHOTOGRAPH somebody else has taken, and makes a COPY of it.

The Jaguar, for example. The original photo can be found here at this site.

That's probably why he dedicated that drawing to the original photographer.