Ballpoint Pen Art

It’s hard to figure out which one is the photograph and which one is drawn using simple Bic ballpoint pens. Samuel Silva is a 29-year-old from Portugal.  He draws photographic quality images using everyday Bic ballpoint pens.



Samuel Silva :- Ballpoint pen is not my only medium, it’s just the one I’m currently trying to master. At this point in my life I’m proficient with chalk, pencil, color pencil, pastels, oils and acrylics…Ballpoint pens are as underestimated as they are a powerful medium.  It’s not about what you use, it’s about how you use it.



For work this good you would think Silva is a professional artist.  Perhaps the most unbelievable part of this story is that this guy is a lawyer!  He makes these amazing drawings in his free time.  The picture above is based on a photograph by Kristina Tararina and only took him about 30 hours to complete



Q:How many colors do you have and what pens are these?
A: I have 8 colored Bic ballpoint pens, for this I used 6 of them plus black. They are just common everyday ballpoint pens.
Q: Where do you get them? I have never seen them.
A: Staples, Ebay, Amazon, and pretty much any good office supply store, just because you haven’t noticed them before doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Q: Do you use any other medium mixed with the ballpoint pens?
A: No, I just use ballpoint pens for these drawings. Everything is 100% ballpoint pen.
Q: How do you mix the colors? How do you blend them?
A: I don’t mix them nor blend them. Ballpoint pen ink dries instantly and can not be erased. 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.
Q: Are you a professional Artist?
A: No, I’m just a lawyer, art is just a hobby for me, although it takes from 5 to 50 hours to finish each drawing. I started drawing when I was 2.

For more art, visit Samuel Silva’s website at www.vianaarts.deviantart.com

Inside Capitol Hill...

Subway Art in Naples, Italy

Stop that stone...

Mahabalipuram, Chennai, India

Hindu Temple...

Louvre Museum

Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums, and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement (district). Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited over an area of 60,600 square metres (652,300 square feet). With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum.

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture. In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed theMusée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empirethe museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.