I am completely a pen person. Bics, felt-tipped pens, markers, double-tipped pens, pens with nibs large and small; I have tried hundreds of different types and styles. I especially like to try out the test papers in stores.
It’s a relaxing shopping venture. Like when I try on a shirt at Zara, and I’m already imagining where and with what I will wear it, shopping for pens is a similar process.
TIPS:
If you are a pen lover, grant yourself a small pen-buying budget. This will enrich and sharpen your “line-drawing expertise” and your range of drawing materials. You could experiment different drawing styles by swapping a pen from an other.
Try it yourself:
When you try out drawing materials, don’t just draw lines, circles, or other abstract shapes. Draw a form, an object, a manga character; anything you can think of. That will give you a better idea of a pen’s worth. Test them in real world conditions!
The ballpoint pen
The ballpoint pen is my favorite. It covers the majority of my daily needs, and in addition it’s cheap and offers remarkable quality rarely found in its price range. The ballpoint pens offered at formal events, conventions, and hotels are often very good. Even if they’re commonly available, I consider the ballpoint a jewel of a technology.
Ho
w does this work?
Let’s look more closely at figure 2.
- The ball
- The ball carrier
- The ink supply tube
The ball rolls when it makes contact with the paper, carrying with it a thin viscous layer of ink, which is then deposited on the paper throughout the entire length of a pen stroke. The more a pen is pressed to the paper, the thicker the ink layer the ball will deliver. Ballpoints are ultra-sensitive to pressure. Like a pencil, they can cover a large gradient from gray to black.
When we write with a ballpoint we use a constant, even pressure. However, in light of the myriad advantages associated with ballpoint pens, thousands of artists have adopted them in order to take full advantage of their properties.
The ballpoint’s biggest fault: IT STAINS
The ball warms up from the friction of the paper against the pen. After a few minutes, the ink thins due to heat. It accumulates at the edge of the ball and deposits a blotchy residue on the paper. This deposit takes a long time to dry. Be careful, or your drawing wrist and hand will smear these drops of ink across your paper.
TIPS :
1- Regularly clean the pen tip on scratch paper, or slip blotting paper under your wrist to minimize smearing.
2- Alternate between ballpoints while you let the other pen cool down.
Other issues:
• Ballpoints bleed and turn purple with the application of a Pantone marker.
• They don’t work on a vertical canvas, as ballpoints require gravity to pull the ink towards the tip.
• They will stain clothing.*
* If anyone knows how to clean these stains efficiently, drop me a line in the comments. Thanks!
Avoid gadget pens, including:
• Mini-pens. These are portable but hard to handle. They’re cute, but cost a lot, and have a very feeble anatomy.
• Pens with a large diameter, like those with four or ten colors in one.
- You will use up the black ink before all the others.
- Banish all the wide-diameter pens as they’re too large for small hands.
• I don’t use crazy technical pens like Stabilo Moves, which are reputed to be especially ergonomic. I like being able to immediately grab a standard pen, and they seem just as good as the fancier models to me.
A small note on product design
The cosmetics industry imported the ballpoint system by offering skin care products like eye lifters and roll-on deodorants, which use a modified ballpoint system with a much larger ball.
If you too think this transfer of technology incredible, you have the makings of a product designer.
I need your feedback, please let me know in the comment area if the article has been helpful. If you liked it, feel free to share it.
29 Comments
Mona
July 14, 2018If you soak the stained portion in unprocessed milk the milk acid will dissolve the ballpoint pen ink. i had a few stained curtains from my kid and it worked.
– MC
Chou-Tac
July 15, 2018It happened a couple of time I got stained my clothes with a ball point pen.
Such a great tip. Thank you Mona ! : )
TravisBold
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Morgan
January 30, 2018Also what type of paper is best for ballpoint drawings?
Chou-Tac
February 9, 2018For product design sketching, I recommend Laser paper A4 or A3. I personally like the brand DOUBLE A. For the weight 80g. is great !
Morgan
January 30, 2018I just want to know if I should use an old Biro ballpoint or a new one for portraits
Yogesh R
November 23, 2017Hello sir I am preparing for entrance exam of master of design in product design in india. The exam is scheduled to 20 January 2018 I am improving my sketching skill from your website. Can you help me improve my sketching and how can I draw product in quick time .. I am attaching CEED exam link please help me with preparation.
Thanking you
CEED Exam Overview and Syllabus
Ria
March 6, 2016Does anybody know how to get rid of accidental drops of ink on cartridge paper? I’m 13 hours through my ballpoint pen drawing for an exam and I have several dots which are really annoying me. I was advised not to use a pen eraser as it would damage the paper, so instead I used a compass to try scratch away lightly at the surface, but the dot turned into a circle, so I used a white gel pen over it and it turned blue. Does anyone have any advice?
Chou-Tac
March 6, 2016Hello Ria,
Not sure how to help you, but something I used to do is to get some “white stickers”, cut a piece of it and stick it on the stain.
Something like this sticker for example: https://www.google.com.sg/search?q=sticker+white&espv=2&biw=1280&bih=625&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiqhpOotqzLAhULU44KHVrlCLgQ_AUIBigB#imgrc=B_b0dqdDlU3AjM%3A
Hope it helps.
Mohannad
February 8, 2016About the bleeding issue i heard that bic orange fine doesn’t bleed with copics (well the guys behind the book design sketching say that) they also said that some ballpoint pens in combination with different brands of markers might not bleed or minimize the bleeding issue
ejiro enajemo
February 3, 2016Ball points are great….but am not handy with them though…tanks for d tip though
Chou-Tac
February 4, 2016The ball point pen is very convenient for design sketching, have a try :).
ejiro enajemo
February 3, 2016Ball points re great though am not quite handy wit dem.. Tanks for d tip sha
OP
December 1, 2015In the UK and probably in the States you can buy a product called Stain Devils – they do several versions including one specifically designed to remove ink from fabric, they are a God send and have saved me many times from exploding Ballpoints. Hope this helps 🙂 PS. The staedler ballpoints are really sturdy and nice to use, the ink flows well but they’re quite hard to come by.
Chou-Tac
December 1, 2015Thank you for the Tip. Kind of product we should have in the emergency cupboard 🙂
Roger Santos
November 23, 2015Simple but great technology. The most incredible things in ours life are usually dealt in simple ways, which makes ‘simple’ a very difficult task to achieve in everything we do. The ballpoint technology is one of those simple but great things, just like the paper clip for example. Have you tried the Zebra F-301? I´ve read reviews that it´s a great pen to draw with 🙂 Haven´t tried it though.
Thanks for this great article.
Cheers,
Roger Santos
Chou-Tac
November 23, 2015Fully agree with you.
Haven’t tried the Zebra F-301 pen. Now if I see it I will notice it and make a try 🙂
Thanks Roger !
BD
January 3, 2016I’ve used the Zebra F-301 pen and like them quite a bit, but find them a little more difficult to get the gradual shading you can get with a Bic pen. My most used pen is the Fisher Space Pen. I always have a Fisher Space Pen Bullet Pen in my pocket…always! The added benefit to the Fisher Space Pen is that the ink is pressurized to it will write on vertical surfaces or even upside down.
Freya
September 1, 2015Weirdly milk cleans ball pen stains rather well (I used to carry one in my pocket when I work. And sometimes it explodes….)
Chou-Tac
September 2, 2015Explode ….
Pyro
May 21, 2015Interesting. I just use one pen and do small lines very close together, have been testing using different pens for different tones. Too many pens just gets confusing
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Chou-Tac
May 21, 2015Hello Pyro,
Is there a Ball point pen brand you especially like ?
Bat
December 30, 2014Hair spray or Isopropyl Alcohol work to get out ink as well…just be careful about what fabric you put it on.
Chou-Tac Chung
December 30, 2014Hair spray. That’s interesting. Thanks for the Tip !
Benson
October 27, 2014i use a uni ball point and often spoil the tip on purpose by shading with it on purpose, to get minimum ink flow so i go both ultra fine and regular at the same time. to go darker, i would just go over couple times.
inspiring site btw
Chou-Tac Chung
October 29, 2014Hi Benson,
I also think Uni-ball pens are good. They give a constant ink flow and dry fast. However, I didn’t get how you spoil the tip ?
Anthony G.
October 10, 2014with any kind of stain , you need to get cold water on it , and then if its possible Dawn soap w/ oxy helps , baking soda makes a difference too.
Chou-Tac Chung
October 29, 2014Thanks for the Tip Anthony. Baking soda is actually very easy to find.
Renata Lahalle Goeggel
July 31, 2014Me too, I love the ballpoints pen ! They can draw with me! My favorite in the Bic medium black!
We use the same type of “car” but we do not drive the same way! cool n’est pas? 🙂
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