Harpy Eagle

Image Art by @Ilga

This a ball-point pen drawing done with a black BIC-Stick pen. Based on a Pixel photo reference of a Harpy Eagle.

9 Comments

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    Lv99Lich (@Lv99Lich)
    10/29/2021 @ 11:11pm

    Something's weird with this. If you zoom in on the edges, the pixels were manually cut. Like similar to a copy paste. There are also greys under the chin and elsewhere. Inks don't create greys like that, they look just as dark, only thinner. The blotchy area in the lower right is common in digital pictures that have had their b/w or contrast edited. Lastly if this was truly done in ballpoint pen, it would be absolutely massive. Its possible but would probably take close to 30 hours to complete. Not saying this is totally fake obviously because it looks hand drawn but something's definitely weird about it. Like either the artist used real inkpens along with digital editing or something similar.

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    Ilga Jansons (@Ilga)
    10/30/2021 @ 12:02am

    @Lv99Lich This is completely drawn with a BIC ballpoint pen. It is about 18 inches across, drawn on high gloss photo surface paper and YES it took many hours to create. It was photographed with a Nikon camera and cropped and sized with Photoshop. But it was drawn TOTALLY by hand with a ballpoint pen. There isn't even a pencil under-drawing due to the fact that the paper surface is fairly fragile. And yes, you CAN get greys with a plain ordinary black ballpoint pen with the right paper and technique.

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    Ilga Jansons (@Ilga)
    10/30/2021 @ 1:14am

    @Lv99Lich I don't know how to add another image to an existing post, but I added one to another image, it's a finch, the fourth newest post after my eagle. I added a second image to that post....scroll down to see it. It's some scribbles with a BIC stick pen, in fact the very same one that I used for the eagle....and you can see that extremely fine lines that read gray are capable of being made with a ballpoint pen. This scribbling was scanned with a Canon 9000 Mark II, not photographed as the eagle was. The eagle was too big to scan and it is too dark to photograph something without a flash at present here. I must say that I feel my integrity has been unnecessarily attacked. I come to Doodle Addicts to show off a little and to see what folks have been doing. It is HERE that I first saw people working in ball points and started experimenting with them a couple of years ago. I think that before you make claims publicly that call into question someone's integrity, you might want to talk to them privately or ask them how something was done. My full name is on my Instagram account, you could have messaged me through Etsy or Shopify or Facebook or my Edgewood Garden website. I would have happily shared my learning curve with ballpoints and that the REASON I like them is that I can get such nuanced lines, not as possible really with my Rapidographs or Micron pens.

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    Lv99Lich (@Lv99Lich)
    10/30/2021 @ 7:26am

    Not sure why you cropped the edges. The size you gave makes sense. I'll take your word that the high gloss paper caused the reflection and that greys are possible on it. I tested on both thin and thick sketch paper and couldn't get greys, hence my assumption. Yes microns are hard to work with. I've found Faber-castell ink pens to be better for super tiny details, but you seem to be more skilled with ballpoint. You're probably crazy good with pencil. I used to moderate for a small art community (checking for tracers, stealers, editors etc) so its a habit. You really dont have to provide proof. It was actually very considerate of you to explain despite feeling attacked. Obviously art is art and you can do whatever. I think mentioning that art was digitally edited is still very important.

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    OKAT (@okat) Plus Member
    11/01/2021 @ 12:18pm

    @Ilga @Lv99Lich If you take a look at Ilga's artwork uploaded on her portfolio it's clear to see the amazing patience and skillset she has with a BIC pen or any medium. She's a great follow and inspiration here on Doodle Addicts.

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    Lv99Lich (@Lv99Lich)
    11/03/2021 @ 10:21pm

    If one doesn't acknowledge separation between traditional and digital then i'd fully agree. I believe hybridization is totally fine when listed as such. (Ex. tagging it for 'drawing' and 'digital'/'edited' or simply mentioning it in the description.) It is highly deceptive to try and pass off digitally edited art as being fully traditional. That is the artists' version of a pro athlete secretly taking steroids. Its a shame too, as this artist is quite good yet still felt the need to edit some of her work. I'd much rather see her true skill, unedited, raw and honest. There is beauty in imperfection and a loss of trust towards the disingenuous.

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    Misti (@misti)
    11/07/2021 @ 11:24pm

    Absolutely beautiful Eagle! I deeply admire your ink work.

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    Ilga Jansons (@Ilga)
    11/08/2021 @ 1:04am

    @misti Thank you Misti. I have finally found the right paper on which to play with ballpoint pens. I found it, of all places, at the Goodwill. It was a half ream package of big sheets of photo paper for ink jet printers. It is intensely shiny and slippery. I hope to do many more ballpoint pen drawings on it.

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    Bailey DeWolf (@SedonaEquineArt)
    11/11/2021 @ 11:18pm

    Truly gorgeous work here. Your skill with the pen is incredible. Great work, as always

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