Technique Progress
Art by @JoerB
I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.
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5 Comments
Suzette (@Rayedrgn)
Joer! ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ♡ Thank you so much for taking the time to write out such a thoughtful and caring description and sharing your experiences! I heavily admire your talent and your mastered skill using pens. Could you please write out what colors you specifically use and in what order with the shading? Loving your work! ❀❀❀❀
Ilga Jansons (@Ilga)
I really appreciate your sharing, mentoring and always being patient enough to answer questions. You were my inspiration to even TRY some ball point pen drawings and it's been a fun ride. Thank you for sharing your processes and your learning curve. I always look forward to seeing your masterful drawings!
Joer_B (@JoerB)
@Rayedrgn Basically, I use the 4 colour Bic click pen. Most office supply stores sell the one with the blue barrel and I order the one with the yellow ink from Amazon. I start with a rough sketch of the pose then refine it to the point it includes the muscle masses. Then I lay down the red first. As I have described in my other posts, I use very light pressure - just enough to make a fine mark. This pressure is different from the normal writing pressure I usually use to take notes. After I've basically drawn and shaded the entire image in red ink, I then use the green ink to go over the red and also add depth to the shadow areas. Finally, I go in with the yellow ink and sparingly go over everything. The yellow Bic ink is a bit harsh and too much coverage will give an unnatural look. Sometimes I revert to the cheap Hello Kitty 10 ink click pens and use that yellow - it's more forgiving. I almost never use black for the shadow areas - it flattens the volume. Usually, the combination of the red, green and yellow is enough to achieve nice dark brown. If I need to cool off the shadow areas more, I use the blue. As with all things, you have to practice and experiment with what works for your style of cross hatching. I had to fail numerous times before I could achieve a fairly acceptable look. Hope this helps.
Joer_B (@JoerB)
@Ilga Thanks, glad to be of help! I really have no issues outlining the way I work. I think that with the information I've provided, chances are that the person reading the description will come up with something completely different - which is always fun to see. I've run into other artists who are so protective of their process that they almost come off as hostile when I ask questions. Besides, if you look closely and have a lot of time to try different things, you can probably figure out how they did it. And if you can't, you'll come up with your own process to achieve the look you're looking for.
Suzette (@Rayedrgn)
@JoerB Thank you so much! I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to me! I want to try this technique!