Since 2014

    PENNAME  by R. Bell  posted May 12, 2017​

​Mixed & Matched・Town, Country

TITLE ・DATE ・MEDIUM ・SIZE

AUGUST 2015   Peter Ross   Hong Kong  

If you're ever walking the streets of Hong Kong and notice a fair-skinned fellow with fiery red hair appreciating the aging architecture more than the average passerby, you've probably found Peter Ross. You wouldn't know it but Ross is in fact a born-and-bred Hong Konger  himself, and he knows that aging architecture well. A member of both the Architect's Registration Board  and Royal Institute of British Architects, Ross has put in time working on large-scale projects as an architect for reputable firms... Architecture naturally features within Ross's ballpoint artwork. Buildings appearing through, and framed by, cloud-like compositional arrangements are genuinely Hong Kong and genuinely Peter Ross...  Read the full archived feature

Mongkok  2014, ballpoint pen, gouache & pencil on watercolor paper, 30 x 30cm (12 x 12''), shown cropped. Artwork © Peter Ross

MARCH 2015   Lennie Mace   Tokyo, Japan  

This must be the wrong exhibition. Lennie Mace is, after all, known for colorfully detailed, elaborately composed ballpoint artwork, but no such artwork is on display here; only blank sheets of paper, beautifully framed...

Read the full archived feature. 

Goat Gal  (Goat 1 of 4) 2014, ballpoint pen & ''dry'' ballpoint pen on paper, shown cropped. An example of ''colorfully detailed'' Mace,

showing usage of ''dry pen'' patterns.  Artwork © Lennie Mace/THE LAB

JUNE 2015   Andrey Poletaev   Lugansk, Ukraine  

Andrey Poletaev can luckily travel vast distances without ever having to leave his home. Ballpoint pen in hand he can set off in any direction, as he pleases. The ability to use art as an escape to lands known-or-unknown proves how drawing skills and 'vision' are a magic combination. Imagination plays a part for many artists, but Poletaev's travels are decidedly more terrestrial. He could be logging frequent flyer mileage. And if his visual documentations thus far don't merit a diploma, he can simply draw one...  Read the full archived feature 

Kiev  January 2015, ballpoint pen on paper, 36 x 42cm (14 x 17''), shown cropped. Artwork © Andrey Poletaev

The Ballpointer enters its fifth year on a nostalgic note, revisiting two featured favorites from 2014. But our sentimental streak might be to your good fortune. Seeing as these two talented and busy artists have not been featured recently in these pages, their ballpoint artwork, outlooks and backgrounds will surely be new news to the growing number of Ballpointer  followers who rely on us for their ballpoint art news. And for those of you who may have read these before, we think they're both worth reading again.​

​APRIL 2015   James Mylne   London, England  

Britain's premier ballpointer James Mylne has undergone as conspicuous and ambitious a developmental arc as one artist could experience within such a relatively short span of time. Mylne readily admits the "shift"; conscious steps beyond earlier, straightforward photorealism...

Read the full archived feature. 

Natalia  2014, Torn series

ballpoint pen, spray paint, marker, ripped Giclee prints and Krink on paper, 75 x 93cm (29 x 36''), shown cropped. Artwork © James Mylne

​​​​​PENNAME PICK  by O. Lebron  originally posted December 3, 2015​

​James Mylne   PICKS SPECIAL:  London, England 

Samsara & The City・2015・ballpoint pen, ink markers, gouache, acrylic & spray paints on matte board・60 x 85cm (24 x 34'')

    PENNAMES  by O. Lebron  posted November 14, 2017​

​Teacher's Pen   Artist・Country 

TITLE ・DATE ・MEDIUM ・SIZE

Artwork, at top :  Badami  20 x 14'' (50.8 x 35.5cm). 

Below :  Lakkundi Houses 2  20 x 14'' (50.8 x 35.5cm). Far left : source

photo for Lakkundi Houses 2. All artwork 2016, ballpoint pen on

handmade paper unless otherwise noted   © Shirish Deshpande

​​​​​PENNAME PICK  by B. Neufeld  originally posted September 1, 2015​

​Play Boy   PICKS SPECIAL:  Lennie Mace・New York City via Tokyo, Japan 

CosPlayStation:2011・drawn between 2006-2012・Tokyo, Japan・ballpoint pen & cut vinyl decals on Japan Railway poster・146 x 103cm (57.5 x 40.5'')

​​    RETROSPECTACLE  by E. Lee, with R. Bell  posted February 22, 2018​

​Lennie Mace・​Tokyo, Japan

Decade 3 : 2004-2014  Ballpoint PLUS

NOVEMBER 2014   Serhiy Kolyada   Kiev, Ukraine  

Conflict and corruption feed commentary; key ingredients for intriguing art. Awareness may be the ultimate goal, but one must first actually care enough to spread the word. Serhiy Kolyada cares. His key ingredient is ink, and his Lifescapes  serve up a spicy blend of commentary and criticism peppered with politicians and prostitutes. Brothels and consumer brands form his artistic broth, but Kolyada's compositional stew is his strength. Art as something to chew on...

Read the full archived feature. 

The Theory for Origins  2012, ballpoint pen on panel, 56 x 41 cm (shown cropped). © Serhiy Kolyada

​​PENNAME  by R. Bell  posted September 28, 2019​

​Sex, Drugs & Ballpoint Pens・​Ctry

Scott Mackie・Aberdeen, Scotland

​​​​​​''It's like an indirect collaboration between me and the art directors at  Sony. They provided the central character, a big sky and panoramic proportions, and I took it from there. Nice working with ya.''

DECEMBER 2014​   Shane McAdams   Brooklyn, New York

Ballpoint pen art without the ballpoint pen? That and more from Shane McAdams, artist and closet alchemist, who literally removes the ball point from the equation by "blowing", milking or otherwise extracting ink from ballpoints and magic markers toward artistic ends.​ Material "deconstruction" distinguishes McAdams from most of his ballpoint peers...

Read the full archived feature.

Cloudslinger  2014, ballpoint pen, oil & resin on panel, 48 x 48'' (shown cropped).  Artwork © Shane McAdams

FEBRUARY 2015​   Shirish Deshpande   Belgaum, India

In a land of over a billion people rich with artisans and craftspeople, it should come as no surprise that ballpoint pen artwork can be found in India, and, in the atmospheric landscapes, decorative still lives and other stylish compositions of Shirish Deshpande, ballpoint art is also well-represented...

Read the full archived feature.

First Ferry  2014, ballpoint pen on handmade paper, 10 x 14'' (shown cropped).  Artwork © Shirish Deshpande

SEPTEMBER 2015   Lennie Mace   PICKS SPECIAL   New York City via Tokyo, Japan    

A Far East ballpoint pen masterpiece  has finally made its way West. Interested parties in the New York area proving worthy enough to score an appointment have a rare opportunity to view original Lennie Mace artwork the likes of which have yet to be properly exhibited in the city. Mace extended an invitation to The Ballpointer  and, being the de facto New York correspondent, apparently I proved worthy. I was surely interested. It's been more than a decade since the absentee New Yorker has had anything on display in his hometown, so when a long-time New York patron offered showroom space, Mace accepted...  

Read the full archived feature

CosPlayStation:2011  2006-2011, ballpoint pen & cut vinyl decals on paper, 146 x 103cm (57.5 x 40.5''), shown cropped. Artwork © Lennie Mace/THE LAB

    PENNAME  by R. Bell  posted May 12, 2017​

Andrey Poletaev・Lugansk, Ukraine

TITLE ・DATE ・MEDIUM ・SIZE