Biros & Ballpoints For Drawing

This page focuses mainly on the use of ballpoints in art, for an in-depth understanding of ballpoints themselves & their history see: The Ballpoint Pen article at the BBC Wiki.
Using ballpoints for artwork is a relatively recent phenomena. The common ballpoint has only been around for about 50 years. I remember my old art tutor told me at college "My art tutor, when I was a student, told me NOT to use ballpoints for drawing". So even in the art world which uses ALL types of mediums, it is only recently being widely accepted.

The term 'Biro drawing' is mainly only used in the UK, more commonly known as ballpoint art. Serious use of a ballpoint for artwork (especially photo-realism) is rare. As you may well be aware, you can not rub out or paint over any errors made with a ballpoint. So in a way biro drawing is more like sculpture than pencil drawing or painting. Any strong definition made is permanent. If you create an outline of a figure, fill in the backround and then change that outline, you can only "eat" into that figure, taking away light in place of stone. You may think that applying Tipex to an error might be OK, but not only is it in fact quite visible, but try drawing over that splodge of Tipex. That doesn't really work how you might hope or imagine.

I have always been quite surprised that use of ballpoints for drawing is generally quite rare. Their ink has a deep blackness which is visually very strong and very permanent. The contrast of that ink on white paper can make for impressive effects. On top of this, the level of fine precision that can be applied with it makes it a handy instrument and obviously a cheap one too.
When pressing hard on light & medium thickness paper with the pen consistently (if you are covering an area in black) the surface of the paper is 'warped' into a 3D like wave of rejected and projected areas. On the right is an example of this effect, you can see the highlighted and shadow areas created from the 'warped' surface. To the touch this surface has a leather like texture. Some people (from my experience) like this quiality, but this effect can be avoided by using thick paper or card.
Another quality that the surface of paper that has been covered in biro ink has, is the occassional reflection from some angles. The photo on the right demonstrates this. The drawing in the image (also shown in the video at top) has had the background fully filled in with a biro, not once - but twice. I think the photo also gives a feeling for the thick leather or tar like surface created from this process. This drawing is on card, and the photo was taken only a coupe of hours after completeion, so it is still drying to some degree at this stage, and it is only from a certain angle this type of reflection can be viewed.

It is quite difficult, I think, to use a ballpoint for drawing properly (technique is addressed below). Secondly, even when used properly it can take a long time to cover a large area of paper. This is because the maximum area of paper the tip of the ballpoint can cover at one time is always the same (less than 1mm sq). Unlike painting where a large brush can be used, or in pencils where a thick pencil can be used, like an 8B. But, as they say, patience is a virtue.

There are people who say ballpoint ink fades over time. No one, though it seems, is absolutely certain. People working in banks etc in the 60's were advised not to sign cheques will ballpoints (believing that the ink would fade in a few months). Personally I am not convinced, I have biro drawings, that I drew in the early 1990s that look exactly the same as the day i finished them (they weren't even properly stored). Obviously, if you leave your ballpoint artwork in direct sunlight, then over time, it will fade. This is, though, true with oil paintings etc too.