Exquisite Ballpoint Pen Drawings By Shirish Deshpande

The only way to experience the potential of boundless imagination is through viewing a piece of art. The inspiration to capture the unseen has always kept the artists striving for creative perfection.

Famously known for his unique and beautiful ‘Ballpoint pen artwork’, Shirish Deshpande is one such Indian artist who has proved that art does not need to be bracketed under the category of technique or style, art is beautiful in all its forms and sources.

Shirish was born in Belgaum, India and was inspired by art since his childhood. His mother being an artist always motivated him to pursue his passion for art and creativity. The artist says he realized his talent at the age of 8 when he drew an open door of a train on a slate. The teacher, after looking at his drawing was so mesmerized that the slate was circulated in all the classes to show the students how neatly it was drawn along with the right perspective. It was then that the artist realized the power of drawing.

Along with colored ballpoint pen artwork, Shirish also paints with oil and acrylic colors and hopes to work with water colors in future. He was ranked 9th in the top 100 ballpoint pen artist of the world in the year 2010. His artwork has been featured on several TV programs and was also chosen for an international calendar by artwanted.com.

Shirsh says art for him is food for the soul. Art inspires, encourages, excites, soothes, provokes and illuminates emotionally as well as spiritually. Art is what connects soul to soul. Ballpoint pen art has a huge potential to create something with every stroke, as the lines made with ballpoint pen are very fine and cover less amount of space contrary to the brush strokes, explains Deshpande. Not being completely satisfied with oil and acrylic colors, Shirish once made a simple still life titled ‘Fresh’ with pen and thereafter discovered the power of ballpoint pen art. He has drawn and painted all; a portrait, landscape, still life, abstract and contemporary creative expression.

Being an artist is not always as glorifying as it sounds, there are endless hours of dedication and commitment to one’s work. After standing in wrong posture for a long time while making the ballpoint pen drawings, Shirish developed severe back pain and was advised bed rest. Due to which he undertook a healing program which involved meditation and Yoga. The program required him to focus his attention to the area where he actually felt the pain and the pain made the artist have visualizations filled with creative energy. After the pain reduced, Shirish painted his abstract visualization directly onto the canvas without any palate or plan. Just with an inspiration of a particular color Shirish made a special abstract art by using large brushes, a zig zag tool (that he made himself), and a roller to spread the acrylic color.

We are neither artist nor can be closely compared to one and therefore, we don’t understand the close relation of pain with creativity for many artists.

Well, coming back to the artist, Shirish passed out with G.D. in Applied Arts from Pune and worked as a graphic designer in the field of communication for 27 years. After years of designing for varied people, he finally came to the conclusion that he needed a much creative outlet to express the emotions, fears, inner conflicts, joy, hopes, and ideals. He hopes to venture and try his hand in every form of art and inspire and connect with art lovers around the world with his work.

We have included some of his drawings to inspire you to be true to yourself by believing in your work and dreams.