Using regular ballpoint pens, UK-based artist Gareth Edwards draws incredibly realistic portraits of celebrities like Audrey Hepburn, Walt Disney, Natalie Portman and Humphrey Bogart with Candy Toxton.

“I began working in ballpoint pen because I was to lazy to sharpen a pencil, or put away my paints at the end of the day,” Gareth Edwards explains the choice of his medium. “The simplicity of the ballpoint pen first appealed to me at school. The initial scribbles I did then, have since become an addiction in trying to create a drawing that is so realistic its deceives its audience into thinking such a detailed piece couldn’t have been created with such a humble source.” And indeed, some of his celebrity portraits look so life-like it’s almost impossible to believe they are more that just artistic black-and-white photographs.

“Of all the mediums used in traditional drawing, ballpoint pen has to be one of the hardest to master, and requires a very delicate hand, as well as an obsessive focus over a considerable amount of time,” the British artist told My Modern Metropolis. “Usually, a single drawing will take around 2 to 3 weeks, or even longer depending upon its size. It has almost become an addiction, and with each drawing, I find a greater desire to make it even more realistic than the last. I want my work to represent possibility, the possibility that you really can create whatever it is you want, no matter how unrealistic it may seem at.”

 Photos: Gareth Edwards/Facebook

Source: Gareth Edwards