Ballpoint pen art is an art form that is not seen every day but deserves to be right up there with all the other intricate artforms. Drawings are created by using several techniques from drawing lines to making dots.

South Africa has earned the right to boast with several local ballpoint pen artists, that stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the world’s best ballpoint pen artists. One of these artists is Themba Mkhangeli, who is a self-taught ballpoint pen artist residing in the heart of Cape Town.

Themba shared some useful tips for those who want to give this unique art form a try.

HATCHING AND CROSS HATCHING

These are the two first technique I use the most when I start a drawing. These techniques help me a lot when it comes to controlling my pen.

I call the first technique/texture line-to-line (hatching). If you want to create a darker effect, you have to close the gap between each hatching/line and the second cross-hatching. The effect/tone will go darker if you add more lines.

It’s not easy to make mistakes if you understand how to apply them on your first stage. They also help you understand how to control your hand better. When you want to get a smooth effect, you can apply them.

SCRIBBLING

This is the most important technique/textures I use when I do rough parts like coarse hair. These two techniques look similar, but differ due to the fact that with the one you can lift your pen whereas with the other one you do not lift your pen.

An amazing crazy texture is created when this technique is done on top of cross-hatching. You can create a range of tones if you put more pressure on your pen when drawing, as well as repeating the scribbling.

DOTTING/POINTILLISM

I use these techniques/textures when I am mastering my skin tone and text most. These techniques are very important when you want to achieve hyper-realistic.

These techniques might look the same, but they are created in different ways. The first technique is created in a way that can be described as shaking your hand while dotting, whereas the second technique is done by straight point dotting.

The more pressure you put on your pen when drawing, the greater the variety of dark shapes and tones will be. You can also make more dots to achieve darker shapes and tones.