PICKS PAGE ARCHIVES 2015:
''My new ballpoint pen drawing is one of my series about Kateryna the heroine of Taras Shevchenko's poem and painting. Shevchenko is our national poet and artist, lived in 19th century. The drawing is devoted to the hard destiny and life of Ukrainian women who go abroad to find work and better life. I had already Katerynas in New York, London, Washington D.C., Moscow, etc.
Before, when I used Kateryna, I try to show the hard life of simple Ukrainian woman. Now, when I took Zurich/Switzerland I changed the meaning a little. Usually, in Ukraine, when the government is changed, the previous, who were or became billionaires, go away to European countries, most of all to Switzerland, where they have their bank accounts. So still I made Kateryna again to show the social contrast.
I spent a month to make it. I used only Bic pens, black. The photo is from the net. Famous place , I think, St. Peter's Church. It is the 15th of my Kateryna series. I used her image not only in world cities. If we take in cities, famous places, then the 7th. I think I shall continue the series, maybe even like Kateryna in some fantasy places''・
Visit kolyada.com for more art and information・
Artwork © Serhiy Kolyada
Missing the Ball Point
Dimes-to-donuts there's a ballpoint pen within reach of you right now. Reliable friends, always there when you need them; on standby to scratch a Hitler mustache onto The President or blacken the teeth of the covergirl dujour. Your grade-school composition books were probably filled with more stream-of-conscious creative filler than actual studies. But this proletarian tool is no longer just for signing checks, writing postcards or doodling sweet nothings.
The origins of ballpoint artwork echo the humble origins of art itself. Caveman roots; the universal, instinctive urge to create. For some, an irresistible force; to express oneself, to leave one's mark, to teach, using whatever tools are available. All that's necessary is the will to do so, pressed by a bit of creative curiosity, aided by ingenuity. ''Let's see what happens when I do this.'' Galleries, museums and art critics enter the equation much later.
There you sit, a dozen-thousand years later, surfing through the daily barrage of viral news. A headline grabs you: Starving Artist Illustrates The Bible on his Bedroom Wall Using Ballpoint Pens. Well, ''starving artist '' doesn't mean much anymore; with the amount of aspiring artists art schools churn out every year its a miracle anyone goes onto a career. ''Illustrating the Bible ''? Hasn't that already been accomplished in any number of formats any number of times in any number of languages ? ''On his bedroom wall ''? Children cover walls with masterpieces daily, to their parent's dismay, worldwide. And ''using ballpoint pen''? Now there's a story, right ? Well…
News outlets worldwide still report about artwork created using ballpoint pens as if, in the half-century since its invention, the pens have never been given any artistic consideration. Prior to the advent of the internet and social media, their ignorance could be forgiven. Nowadays ballpointers are everywhere, in every corner of the world, and the so-called ballpoint Wow Factor in and of itself carries less weight. The internet and social media are these days awash with ballpoint art blogs of every stripe, although with varying content. Ballpoint art classes may already be part of a curriculum somewhere. But the birth of the internet didn't mark the beginnings of ballpoint innovation; if anything, it merely serves as proof of how commonplace it has become, or how it has been all along ・・・
A Year in The Pen The Ballpointer Nov 2014 - Nov 2015 PICKS of the Litter 2015
Lennie Mace Tokyo, Japan
Holly Cappello Portland, Oregon
illustration by Susan May for The Ballpointer
Lennie Mace, 1984 New York, New York
MalOjo Basque Country
Gareth Edwards Stourbridge, England
Andrey Poletaev Lugansk, Ukraine
PICKS PAGE ARCHIVES2016: Read about these artworks in the artists' own words in The Ballpointer PICKPIECE archives. Click on the artwork to see their PICKPIECES.
Eric Seaholm Tokyo, Japan
James Mylne, 1999 London, England
Peter Ross Hong Kong
NEWDE FACED
Shane McAdams Wisconsin / Brooklyn
2015 PICKS page archive MENU
FEB2015~NOV2015 click the BALLPOINTER graphic (left) to access the full 2015 menu
Chen Zhen Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Pepe Lozano Cordoba, Spain
Shirish Deshpande Belgaum, India
RECAP originally posted in installments throughout 2015
Andy Warhol @ Christie's online auction series, 2015
Ler Huang Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Andrey Poletaev Lugansk, Ukraine
Guy Woodard New York, New York
M.I. Shaikh Mumbai, India
SLIDESHOW
last revised Apr. 9, 2017
Pepe Lozano Cordoba, Spain
Matt Rota Brooklyn, New York
PICK PIECES The Ballpointer staff choose the artwork and let the artist explain it in their own words Vol 4 No 2 posted March 27, 2017
Serhiy Kolyada・
Kiev, Ukraine
Kateryna in Zurich 2017 ・
37 x 55cm (15 x 22'') ・
ballpoint pen on paper
No, the drawings presented here have NOT been ''defaced'' or altered in any way. The title of this new section, DE FACED, simply describes the fact that the artworks presented here have been pulled from social media posts such as facebook and, as such, therefore ''de''-faced, as it were. Some of the artists may be familiar to readers, but new faces will also be introduced here. These artists have not been notified of inclusion here, but every effort will be made to credit the artwork as they did in their original posts.
The content of this slideshow presentation will be revised regularly & randomly.
Listed by date, from most recently posted.
・
All artwork ©
respective artists
Dave Warshaw San Diego, California
Since 2014