Honestly, I never intended to become a ballpoint pen artist. For a while, I even thought the words ‘ballpoint pen’ sounded a little unimpressive.
It does not have the grandeur of oil paint or the elegance of watercolor. It seems more like something a student keeps in a pencil case and might lose at any moment.
In the past, watercolor was the medium I loved most. When I was still living in Melbourne, I often visited my teacher, Joseph Zbukvic, a legendary watercolor painter.
I learned a great deal from him about color, atmosphere, and how to keep progressing. He has already told the story of watercolor so well that I have no desire to repeat it.
I want to tell a story of my own.
Curiously, ballpoint pen and watercolor have much in common. Both are among the few media capable of producing a sense of translucency, and both are difficult to alter once a mark has been made.
A mistake remains a mistake; the only choice is to find a way forward. I have always liked that. Before every mark lands, the mind has to rehearse it first.