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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 2d

Aw geez, nearly a third of the way through October and I'm way behind on my skeleton quota.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen #skeleton

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 4d

I've never tried drawing someone doing a hand stand before. Or wearing fishnet stockings. The ref was taken during an event where people sat on pies. On reflection, I think pies are better eaten than sat on, but there's no accounting for taste I guess.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen #handstand

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 13d

An illustration I did for a Taco themed charity event a few years back. I assume Giant Taco said yes.

#digitalpainting #illustration #tacos

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 14d

Getting ideas out for a larger project. Done with a Muji ballpoint pen and a sharpie. The Muji pens are better than some fineliners that cost three times as much. Very nice but I think I still prefer the humble BIC.

#ballpointpen #sharpie #skeleton #picnic

A skeleton and a lady having a picnic in the middle of the night

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 15d

We started a new team at work and the members chose a Darth Vader pun for it's name. This spawned a company-wide torrent of AI slop images that ruined my day and made me daydream of blowing up data centers. The only thing I could do was make something by hand as an act of self care.

#sketchbook

A witty image of Darth Vader as an office worker posed like D-Fens from Falling Down. An idea that definitely hasn't been done one billion times before.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 23d

Took a ferry ride and did some people watching. I have been mired in a huge home improvement project which is now many weeks overdue and my sketchbook has been the primary victim of this.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen

Ballpoint pen drawings of a couple people on the ferry

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Aug 19

Inspired by something I saw last winter: A woman and a cat passing each other on the sidewalk the same way two strangers would, each off to run whatever errands they had for the day with no interest in the other. Personally, I would have tried to pet the cat. No reference.

A woman and cat pass each other on the street

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Aug 14

A quick sketch referenced from a pair of dark, blurry photos made on a ~2005 flip phone. Despite only being 0.3 megapixels, I recall the phone could only store 15 or so images before running out of space.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Aug 10

Some maniac stole my patio umbrella. While I decide if I should wage a campaign of destruction against the city's criminal underbelly or go buy a new one, memorializing the old one in ink seems an appropriate way to grieve.

#ballpointpen #sketchbook #restinpeace

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jul 30

A quick sketch from a recent beach trip. I'm happy with the dimensionality of the pool floaty but underwater caustics are hard.

#ballpointpen #sketchbook #swimmingpool

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jul 22

When cats lounge around in weird poses it's cute. When humans try to do the same thing it's inappropriate. Flagrant double standard right there.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jul 19

The equivalent of pulling an old sketchbook out of the basement: Looking through ancient Photoshop files. I forgot I did this during my digital painting days, which were so long ago now that this .psd would be able to legally purchase alcohol in several countries and Canadian provinces.

An image of Athena hilariously updated to carry a modern rifle and grenade

Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jun 28

On reminiscing about HBO's Chernobyl miniseries.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen #virgins #chads

The Virgin Akimov versus the Chad Dyatlov

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jun 26

The first and last pages of my current sketchbook. About 16 months apart. It usually doesn't take that long for me to fill a sketchbook, but the last couple years have been full of distractions. All from reference.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen #progress

A bunch of ballpoint pen drawings from today

A bunch of ballpoint pen drawings from March 2024

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jun 16

Someone I know from high school with large, intricate tattoos on her back and leg. I find tattoos difficult to draw as they obscure the forms that I look for when drawing people. Yet another thing I should practice more, I guess.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jun 13

"Forget it dude, she only dates skeletons"

#ballpointpen #sketchbook #skeleton

A woman looking over her shoulder while hugging a skeleton

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Jun 7

Sometimes I need to travel for work and I usually bring a sketchbook with me, but rarely ever manage to use it. I forced myself to find the the time on my last trip, which I'm proud of.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · May 22

Wow, a hundred followers! I came here to make a clean break from other social media. No existing connections, no friends from other sites. Somehow it makes every follow seem “earned” .

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · May 19

From a photo of a friend who has a fun-to-draw face and is ready to strike a pose whenever the camera comes out. Always stratifying to drain another pen as well.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · May 14

There's a joke in here about only one thing being on every skeleton's mind. Most of this was done during a three hour zoom meeting in which my participation amounted to saying "hello" and "bye".

#sketchbook #ballpointpen

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · May 9

I found this half-finished Appleseed fanart in a sketchbook from 2022. I think I gave up because using India ink with dip pens on Moleskine watercolour paper was too annoying.

#sketchbook

An unfinished drawing of Deunan, Briareos, and Hitomi from Appleseed

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Apr 22

"Guys stop everything. I can see the bottom of my food dish. Guys? GUYS???!"

I think I redid the lady's face five times before it looked okay.

#sketchbook #ballpointpen

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Apr 12

I usually just rough things in with pencil before switching to ink, as I'm lazy and impatient. It's nice to spend the time and work things out before committing but something always seems to get lost when inking.

#scetchbook #ballpointpen #crab

A lady on the beach date with her boyfriend, who is a giant crab.

A lady on the beach date with her boyfriend, who is a giant crab. In pencil form

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Apr 2

My wife once found a dog's skull with a bullet hole in the top of it. It now hangs on our living room wall. Looking at it made me wonder: Among the polytheistic belief systems, does one exist that ascribes a god or spirit to animal companions put down?

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · Mar 18

Somebody recently described the contents of my sketchbook as "witchy". It's certainly more concise than "mostly ladies, human skeletons, deer skulls, and vaguely religious iconography."

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