The Ballpen Artist is Franz Cillan Madriaga, 38, and he’s offering his artistry on Facebook to anyone who wants to have his or her portrait drawn using the humble ball pen.
A fine arts graduate from the University of Sto. Tomas, Madriaga is also the guitarist of a regular bar band called Pancake 80. But since live gigs are dead for the time being, he’s turning his other passion into a business.
“I started drawing using ball pens nung high school. Mostly superhero characters and drinadrawing ko sa notebooks during boring subjects. Yung pag-portrait using ball pen started in college na pero di ko siya pinapakita kahit kanino kasi di pa ako magaling noon,” Madriaga says.
Using ball pens to draw might sound common, but as with any serious art, it requires skill and deftness to master.
“First off, to draw portraits dapat mahusay ka sa anatomy and proportions ng human figure. Bawal magkamali, dapat maingat ka sa pag-shading and values. As for using the ball pen, di ka pwede mag-erase kaya pag may mali sa proportions or features, uulitin mo talaga yung work. Sa colors naman marami nang brands ng ball pen na may choices sa colors. Trial and error din, some are not good for portraits, nagtatae yung ball pen,” Madriaga says.
Here’s how you can order:
“You can message me sa personal facebook page ko: https://www.facebook.com/franzpatrick.madriaga
and dun sa bago kong gawa na page na The Ballpen Artist:
https://www.facebook.com/FranzPatrickCillanMadriaga/
“The smallest is 8.5 x 11 inches. P1000 for a single head shot. Additional 1k for additional persons. The sizes depend on the client kung gaano kalaki. May extra charges pag medyo kumplikado, like additional backgrounds or may mga items na kailangan i-add. Pero pwede naman i-negotiate. Sometimes I don’t charge na rin pero I tell the client na medyo matatagalan matapos yung work. The smallest size kaya ko tapusin in 3-5 hours max.”
