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ANThology FAQ
Inhuman Pyramid faq
A day at the Beach faq
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General FAQ
Whose site is this? Who are you?
Who drew all the stuff on Biro-art?
What is a biro?
Do you draw in pencil first and then ink it, like comic artists do?
What pens do you use?
What pens do you avoid?
How do you do the really black areas?
How do you add colour?
Do you use photoshop as well as biro?
What do you draw on?
Why do some picture have 'watermarks?'
How long does it take to do a drawing?
Doesn't all that cross-hatching make you hand or wrist ache?
Can I get posters and shirts and stuff with your drawings on?
My favourite drawing isn't available as a teeshirt/poster/mug/whatever, can I get one somehow?
Where do you get your ideas?
Are you available for commisions?
Where can I find the free animated cartoons for my Stardoll page?
ANThology FAQ [see ANThology gallery]
Why ants?
How long did it take to draw all those different ants?
Where can I buy the book?
How much is it?
Inhuman Pyramid FAQ [see picture]
How big is Inhuman Pyramid?
How many Sheets of paper does it use?
How long did it take to draw?
Did you draw it all in pencil first?
A Day at the Beach FAQ [see picture]
How big is A Day at the Beach?
How many Sheets of paper does it use?
What are all the animals depicted?
From Heaven to Hell FAQ [see picture]
How big is From Heaven to Hell?
How many Sheets of paper does it use?
How long did it take to draw?
What's that keyboard thing near the dinosaur?
Is this supposed to be Christian/anti-Christian propaganda?
Why is there a tea-cup in space?
Why is there a mouse on the moon?
Did you start at the top or the bottom?
The Answers
This is my site and I'm NobbyNobody which, believe it or not, is not my real name but the screen name I use at b3ta.
My real Name is Phillip, I'm 40 years old and live with my Missus in Suffolk, England where I work for a medical helpline and draw stuff for this site in my spare time.
Without exception, all of the drawings shown on biro-art were drawn by me.
I do map out the basic outline and composition with a hard pencil before starting with a biro, but never the image as a whole. I feel the pictures work better if I let them evolve rather than planning them in pencil in too much detail.
I use Bic Crystal biros for preference. They seem to have the blackest ink and don't smudge or blot so much as other brand. The worst one are the pens you get free in the post with charity begging junk mail or credit card offers. The ink in those often bleds green after a few weeks.
Large areas of black are either built up gradually with successive layers of cross-hatching or sometimes added in photoshop after scanning. (depending on the size of the area) I experimented with marker pens, but wasn't happy with the result. Cross hatching takes ages but looks much better.
Biro is what we British, amongst others, call ballpoint pens.
It's eponymously named after the Hungarian inventer and journalist, László Bíró who is attributed to being its inventor.
Most of my biro work is produced on A4 laser printer paper. If the image becomes too big for the paper, I simply carry on to another sheet then 'stitch' the pages together using image editing software after scanning them into my computer.
The few drawings that are in colour, such as MouseMobius and My Head's on Fire! were coloured digitally within the computer after scanning. I've experimented with using coloured biros but have yet to be happy with the results
In addition to adding colour, image editing software is used in four other ways on some of the drawings:
- On drawings that span more than one sheet of paper image editing software is used to stitch the sections together and tidy the seam
- Most images are cleaned up to remove fingerprints, crinkles in the paper and occasional coffee stains!
- Some images include text such as GOAT! and Lemon Party, and image editing software is sometimes used to add this text after scanning.
- Finally, some images have background clouds or shading inserted to enhance them or add dramatic effect. Examples of this are So Chelonely and deviANT
Some of the drawings on Biro-art have been overlaid with a watermark to avoid theft. I had a problem early on whith some people printing my larger drawings off selling them as their own work. Prints ordered will of course be without watermarks.
An average drawing takes four to eight hours but obviously the larger ones take longer. Inhuman Pyramid took seven months!
Yes, my hand does ache from time to time.
Why yes, Yes you can buy prints, greeting cards, teeshirts, mugs, mousepads, bags hats and more from the Biro-art shop.
Yes, you can have pretty much any drawing from my site on pretty much anything that's available in my shop. Just ask and I'll get it set up.
I get my ideas from a number of sources, some just come to me in a flash of inspiration from something I read or something someone has said, and some come from suggestions from the lovely and freakish people at B3ta.
Yes, I am available for commisions, but please be aware that in most cases I'd like to be paid for the work I do for you at something approching the going rate. If you're unsure what that is you might find The Artist's & Writer's Yearbook helpful.
If you're interested in hiring me, just eMail me for a chat.
You can use this banner or these buttons to place a link to Biro-art on your site. The correct address is http://www.biro-art.com Thanks!
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The full sized assembled picture is over two meters tall and a meter and a half wide - that's six and three quarter feet high by five feet wide.
Drawn as usual on sheets of A4 printer paper, Inhuman Pyramid took 41 seperate sheets to complete, and three weeks to assemble in the computer. Previously to this the most sheets I'd used on a picture was eleven on From Heaven to Hell
This drawing took seven months to complete and is my largest and most complex drawing to date.
Each creature was invented as I went along. There was no planning other than I wanted them in a pyramid shape.
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A Day at the Beach is around ten feet long and eleven inches high.
This one took fifteen sheets of A4 printer paper, end on end.
The animals depicted are, from left to right, An octopus playing a tambourine, a snake on a euphonium, a familiar looking terrier dog, a rasta aardvark on the bongos, a beaver in a fez playing an accordion, a rhino with a triangle, a tortoise with a pair of cymbals, a zebra in waterwings, a crocodile on an airbed, a hippo in a life saver, a giraffe trying to waterski, some flamingoes about to be hit in the arse with a waterskiing giraffe, a turtle pulling a waterskiing giraffe, a penguin with a shrimp net, a dragonfly about to build sandcastles, a sunbathing elephant, a wildebeest who's lost his icecream, a paddling camel in sunglasses and a dolphin in a hammock.
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With the segments put together, the total size is just under ten feet high and eight inches wide.
This was hand drawn on eleven sheets of A4 paper.
It took me around three weeks to keep me busy during my spare time.
The object below the dinosaur is a Sinclair ZX Spectrum, truly a fossil among home computers.
Although this drawing features God and the Devil, I have no religious agenda.
It's another flying saucer, the cup of tea is just along for the ride.
That's not a mouse on the moon, it's a Clanger.
I started at the top and worked down.
Stardoll? what? Why do people keep asking me this? I have no idea what you're talking about.
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