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Then, tucked in between vending machines hawking shoelaces (1940s, USA) and caviar (presently, Los Angeles), we are shown a vintage ballpoint pen vending machine. The slideshow links to an eBay page where machines can be found for sale; Vendorama, Rite Master and Scripto machines which, during their 1950s heyday, sold ballpoint pens for 10 or 25 cents.
The machines themselves now sell for a couple hundred US dollars, and apparently have a collector base; during one month of tracking the eBay page, many changed hands. No word how long the machines were active, but, as most appear to be countertop models, many may have been carried off by manic doodlers. Now you know what to buy your favorite ballpointer for their birthday ・
Above: Parisian Street December 2015, ballpoint pen on paper, 72.3 x 54.5cm (29 x 22'') Artwork © Andrey Poletaev
All but the keenest viewers may have missed the many ballpoint pen cameos on screens big and small over the years. Ballpoints are regulars in Hollywood productions, and not just as set dressing...
Set Dressers
I am a card-carrying Japanese otaku film buff. There, I've said it. Since being entrusted with this column a year ago, nothing makes me prouder than discovering blink-and-you'll-miss glimpses of ballpoint pen art onscreen. Now that I pay closer attention, I find enough to warrant a monthly column on the subject. In wrapping up a year committed to this task, I turn my camera to several ballpoint pen art cameos which hit closer to home than any others previously reported...
SWATCHWATCH originally posted March 1, 2016
Something Doesn't Gel
The Ballpointer puts a full spectrum of newly-abundent, multi-colored gel inks into the light: Lightfast Ink Testing. Pictured below, Zebra pen company's Sarasa line of gel colors. Also: thINK columnist B. Neufeld chimes in on the new gel pen technology ・
BALLPOINTBRIEF by XX posted XX, 20XX
XX・XX・
SUB : SUB SUB
TEXTS ...
> lot 1: Young Man with Cat, black bpp/paper,
23½ x 17 3/8 in. (59.7 x 44.1 cm.), c.1956.
starting 8,5oo~ Est.usd; 10,-15,ooo
> lot 14: Young Male Nude, ink on paper,
16¾ x 13¾ in. (42.5 x 34.9 cm.), c.1956.
start:4,5oo EstUSD: 6,-8,ooo pg.3
> lot 36: Phallus, black ballpoint pen on paper,
17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm.), Drawn circa 1956.
current 4,5oo~ EstUSD: 5,-7,ooo pg.6
> lot 79: Phallus Head, black ballpoint pen on paper,
17 x 14 in. (43.2 x 35.6 cm.), Drawn circa 1956.
start 4,ooo~ EstUSD: 5,-7,ooo pg.14
> lot 113: Young Man, ink on paper,
16 7/8 x 13¾ (42.9 x 34.9 cm.), Drawn circa 1956.
start 6,5oo~ EstUSD: 8,-12,ooo pg.19
BALLPOINTBRIEF by E. Lee posted March 1, 2016
Patent Pending
Within a slideshow presentation of 12 "unusual" vending machines recently posted by msn.com came a History Channel-like serving of education with a side order of of WTFs. Along with teaching us that vending machines have "been around since the 1st century", we also learn that "the oldest known machine dispensed holy water "...
PENNAMEPICK originally posted March 1, 2016
Andrey Poletaev PICKS SPECIAL
As galleries and art academia continue disregarding straightforward representational art, artists worldwide nonetheless continue working from photographic source material; taking images which have moved them personally and beautifully reproducing them in ways that move art audiences. Andrey Poletaev, whose ongoing cityscape series has, since 2013, taken viewers to real places which might not otherwise be attainable to them, here offers viewers a stroll down a busy Parisian Street....
Sept 27—Nov 18, 2017 NOW UP
Suddenly a Knife solo exhibition
Art Projects International New York, NY (USA)
Ballpoint Elder IL Lee debuts a series of oil & acrylic paintings (pictured: WB-1610, 2016) which echo the aesthetics of his ballpoint pen abstracts, this time created using a knife. More info.
User Allan Barbeau, Ireland.
Brand Staedtler 43235MPB10 Rainbow Ball pens.
Billing "Ergonomic triangular barrel for effortless, fatigue-free writing; Indelible ink (ISO 12757-2); Particularly smooth writing performance." Unsure of the meaning of "ball 432" on the package.
Features This blister (pack) is sold with 10 different colours. You've got Light Green and Blue, Orange, Pink, Purple, Brown and the classic Red, Blue, Green and Black.
Plus 10 clolours in one blister and you have almost all the colours you need to do a lot. I like the the shape of the body. It's a kind of round triangle. For some raison, I find it comfortable. And they are clean. Not much blobs with these ones (but I still recommend to clean them as often as you can, just in case).
Minus 10 colours, yes, but I would love to see a Yellow in there, too. It's very hard to find a brand with a Yellow and this one is no exception... no Yellow.
PS I have those pens in a pot with lots of other brands I like to use. I use other brands, as well, to get a little different kind of the same colours, but I often end-up with a Straddler in my hand.
Availability I've got one pack from the US, so I guess you can find them over there. I buy mine online on a UK webside.
Help track availability by contributing personal knowledge.
Read the INTRO by Lauren Panepinto
Art by Rebecca Yanovskaya featured in this collection of women artists featured in Spectrum.
Published by Underwood Books (cover pictured above).
Now on sale.
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Let us know if this is something you would support with a subscription.
FINE POINTS
by request...
User Lennie Mace, Tokyo.
Brand BIC 4-in-1 pastel colors.
Billing None particularly that I've ever noticed. With pens like this I think the companies see it as ''put it in a store and people will buy it''!
Features The classic 4-in-1 BIC colors still exist (black, blue, red, green) but BIC went "Pop" with the NEW 4: pink, purple, turquoise, lime. Medium & Fine points.
*Also available as 2-in-1; pink & turquoise.
Plus Four colors in one body means you don't have to lift your hand or break your momentum to switch colors mid-sketch = Quick-Draw McGraw!
Minus Four colors coming thru one hole means there's "play" in the points = don't expect precision. Some may say the cigar-sized pen is too thick but hey, FOUR COLORS in one; you make a thinner one with the same quality & I'll buy it!
PS I have one of these in my pocket, always (OK, not always but...), these four pastels OR the classic four colors. You can get the basics of an idea down on paper with some starter-color or take a drawing to completion with just one pen. Layers of pink & turquoise produce lavender tones, layers of pink & lime produce brown tones, etc etc... Pink & turquoise are basically 100% magenta & 100% cyan = they reproduce well!
Availability I've seen the new colors available in various forms separately but I've only seen the 4-in-1 in Tokyo. As for the original four colors, I can't remember a time when these pens didn't exist; been around as long as I've been using ballpoints (many moons) & I've come across them all over the world.
Help track availability by contributing personal knowledge.
Listings published courtesy of The Ballpointer, space permitting.
Submissions to The Ballpointer are welcome and encouraged but, by doing so, you are authorizing the use and publication of of any texts and/or data provided. Having said that, let us know you're out there. Something you'd like to see? Something you'd like us to see?
Support the Starving Arts, Ballpointer & Otherwise.
All but the keenest viewers may have missed the many ballpoint pen cameos on screens big and small over the years. Ballpoints are regulars in Hollywood productions, and not just as desktop set dressing or in pocket protectors.
Feather in Her Cap
Almost Famous Coming-of-age montage stills, showing loose-leaf binder ballpoint doodles circa 1970s. © 2000 Dreamworks/Columbia
Direct all correspondence to theballpointer@gmail.com
SUBMIT & CONTRIBUTE
Brand Paper Mate InkJoy
Billing ''Revolutionary Ink
System For Effortless Writing''
Features 10 colors; 8 pictured:
Black, Orange, Red, Magenta,
Purple, Blue, Turquoise, Green.
Not pictured: Mocha, Lime.
Fine, Medium, Bold points.
Retractable and capped models
available in all listed colors.
Plus Vivid colors include a rare Orange & rarer "Mocha".
Minus Paper Mate take heed, artists take note: the so-called "ultra-low viscosity inks" flow smoothly but perhaps too much so. Beware of Blobbing and smearing.
FYI The ink stays "wet" on the page for some time, which may be good or bad depending on needs of the user. Other points about the low-viscosity ink: at this stage, "lightfastness" seems in question, meaning fine art uses cannot be recommended without further testing. Control of halftone lines is also different than that of more viscous inks. We wonder if the protective wax balls covering new pen nibs are there to prevent leaks prior to sale or premature drying of ink after removal. The jury is still out.
Availability Major outlets worldwide; findable.
FINE POINTS
Brand(s) Pilot ''Better''; Pilot "Super-GP".
Billing Pilot Better: "The Better Ball Point Pen; Smoother. Crisper, Easier to Grip, Refillable."
Features Pilot Super-GP offers multiple point sizes: 0.5, 1.0, 1.2 & 1.6.
Plus Pilot Better ink viscosity & flow: not too stiff, not too loose; just "write". Super-GP hairline point (0.5) good for the finest linework; thick point "fat-heads" (1.2, 1.6) handy for filling broader swatches of blank page with thick ink coverage.
Minus Pilot Better are still produced but retractables and pink ink have been discontinued; hard to believe considering the color competition among brands these days. Super-GP only available in black, blue and red.
PS Pilot in the late 1980s brought quality color and precision engineering to doodling, producing the first vivid pink and purple ballpoint inks with top of the line mechanics in their "Better" ballpoints. Color existed before, but only in the form of 8-color cigar-sized generic novelty pens (pictured above, at left) with unreliable ink flow and unstable color longevity; most generic colors likely fade into brown tones within a week, if the colors didn't dry up in the pen altogether. Other manufacturers have stepped up with quality pinks and additional colors. "Gel" inks are now produced in a rainbow array of colors, but usage beyond doodling is not recommended; the watery gel-based inks don't allow the same effects as the oil-based inks, and colors quickly lose the fight against light.
Availability *Limited; check company websites.
*Help track availability by providing personal knowledge.