Ballpoint Pen historical facts!
*Four thousand year pen and ink history! *Most sold writing & art instrument in history! *Largest undeveloped art movement in history! *Longest flowing pen lines in history! *Brightest colored pen inks in history! *Subtlest camera-ready half tone lines in history! *Only oil based pen ink in history! *Strongest pen tips in history! *Best carbon copy producer in history! *Most reliable pen in history! *Produces half tone lines from a full tone ink! *Can use upside down! *Works underwater! *Operates in extreme hot or cold! *Writes in outer space! *Draws over grease! *Is very easy to use!
*Four thousand year pen and ink history! What an amazing lead in or promotional item to work with as a Pen and Ink artist. Please remember that pen and ink is one of the oldest, greatest or popular art movement in history or for the past four thousand years.
Pen and ink was around thousand of years before just about all other art mediums. That should indicate all other art mediums would be compared to pen and ink because it’s the “KING” of all art mediums in my opinion. A pen wrote the bibles, manuscripts, books, contracts, treaties, letters, check, memos, post cards, messages, documents, plays, book keeping, carbon copies or even novels. That means a people has altered, upgraded, improved or advanced just about every aspect of our society plus is used as an art medium. (This paragraph especially goes out to all you pompous oil painters that keep slandering pen and ink artists. Go write a check or produce a carbon copy with your paints!)
*Most sold writing & art instrument in history! Pen and ink has been around for more than four thousand years therefore it has a great reputation, billions of users and an outstanding respect for ink. Pens make the world work plus they’re one of the best selling items worldwide and that makes them irreplaceable.
A ballpoint pen is the most popular, used or sold pen system in history therefore ignoring artworks completed with them is incomprehensive. How can the art community, galleries, museum, brokers, auctioneers, publishers and retailers claim to have interest in art or artists while that practice is taking place? How many times have artists been told “You’ll be worth more after you’re dead.”
Billions of artists own a ballpoint pen my friends. It’s therefore difficult to thing that they aren’t scribbling, doodling, sketching, rendering or drawing with them folks. Ignoring that creative power indicates how off base the art community is in my mind!
*Largest undeveloped art movement in history! The Bic Pen Company about five years ago indicated that they sold one hundred billion ballpoint pens. Just think, that’s only one ballpoint pen company worldwide reporting in their sales. Remember many pen companies produced pens before Bic came along.
If several hundred billion ballpoint pens have been sold that might indicate just about all artists have or used one along the way. Gathering in those artists artworks is what my ballpoint pen art program is all about my friends. Countless billions of people are doing art works of some form with a ballpoint pen. All those people and artworks make up the largest developing art movement in history!
Do you ever ask yourself why does the art community fail to support those artists or the most sold art instrument in history?
*Longest flowing pen lines in history! If you do your research you’ll find that a modern ballpoint pen can deliver a one mile long oil based full toned ink line to your desired surface. How spontaneous can that be if you’re working from nature, outdoors or trying to capture people or things moving? A ballpoint pen has four different tip sizes, colored ink and archival inks that will enhance your creative freedom while moving quickly around the page. "LET THE INKS FLOW" and watch your life change ladies and gentlemen.
*Brightest colored pen inks in history! I remember back in the good old days when black was pretty much the only kind of ink available. Great joy and happiness came when that first blue ballpoint pen came to my hand. A primary color flowing through my pen was nothing short of a treat. After that red came to the American market packaged as a Bic accountant pen, (fine tip). Next came along the green oil based Bic crystal pen.
The Lindy Pen company out of Montana was the first manufacture or of twelve different oil based ballpoint pen inks or color within my life. I think that was in the early 1980’s. I have more colored ballpoint pen artworks posted on the WWW because of Lindy Pens. I personally think that the Pen and Ink art movement stopped growing do to a lack of colored inks.
How can an art movement thrive or exist without deep rich colors, archived supplies, art community support or with artists involvement of others? Apathy simply doesn’t do the job or bring people together.
*Subtlest camera-ready half tone lines in history! Producing a half tone line from a full toned oil based ink is what a ballpoint pen can do. That’s very important because no other pen system in history was capable of doing such. This particular half tone line is the subtlest camera ready line in history when produced with an ultra or extra fine ballpoint pen tip. If you can find those tips seek out the fine point!
A ballpoint pen provides a full tone graphic line if desire by pressing down on the pen. If you’re interested in a half tone line gently slide a pen across the surface of a page or surface. Firm produces a dark line and lightly a soft line! A very gentle ink line is perfect for polishing, coloring, bending, starting or correcting a ballpoint pen drawings. The final result is much like using a very sharp hard lead pencil. A silver ballpoint pen ink look just about the same as a pencil line folks.
*Only oil based pen ink in history! Pen and ink has been around for more than four thousand years and that makes it one of the oldest art or writing mediums in history. A first quill feathers cut or shaped to perfection served as a pen fore around one thousand years. So much for progress or an innovated mind.
Metal shaped quill nibs pretty well replaced the usage of feathers. The quill, nib, Speedo, fountain, cartridge, felt, blanch, liner, marker, jel, roller, uni, tech and ballpoint pens all came alone throughout time. However the ballpoint was the only system that used an oil based ink which in turn made it the most practicable or popular pen systems ever manufactured. All other pen systems were water based, thinner, weaker colored and came with limited in storage. Besides that most other pen systems broke easier!
*Strongest pen tips in history! A ballpoint pen was originally designed to work on leather which doesn’t always have a totally smooth surface. Particularly if you’re using both sides of the leather which tanners would most likely be doing. J.J. Load’s first patented ballpoint pen was made with three moving balls instead of today’s one. It also operated with a thinner oil based ink which was most likely black made from ash. Industry was already using ball bearings therefore obtaining some of them and placing them in a casing wasn’t than far fetched. Nor was the idea of using a grease or an oil!
An encased ball bearing in a metal or hard plastic casing certainly was a different concept or much steadier design. The tip was round therefore snagging wouldn’t take place, ink was thinker and self contained or sealed therefore the history of pen became revolutionized. The Industrial Revolution produced one of the best selling produces of history and the Pen and Ink art world or movement has never been the same.
*Best carbon copy producer in history! Specking of the Industrial Revolution brings to mind carbon paper. Carbon paper was another revolutionary product that completely changed or altered the world. Business, government, shipping, accounting, book or record keeping took on an entirely new face when carbon paper came alone because triplicate copies now can available. One for the customer, deliverer and product provider. Needless to say, a ballpoint pen worked best or made that innovation come true!
*Most reliable pen in history! A ballpoint was in my opinion the most portable, reliable, sturdy, clean or practicable pen around. All other pen systems had weaker tips which meant brakeage, bending or clogging sooner or later. It also meant refilling, bottles of ink or cartridges which just about all the time got messy. Most ballpoint pens lasted six months to a years, almost always works, never spilled or leaked ink plus was sturdy enough to travel everywhere with out breaking or getting damaged. A portable, secure and reliable pen that was perfect for making carbon copies, writing or drawing with was an ideal product to have as I wrote out a check for the purchase.
*Produces half tone lines from a full tone ink! Oil based inks came with a ballpoint instead of the water based ink all other pen system possessed. Water can only carry so much pigment in order to make an excellent ink or product. India ink already capitalized on that with its steadfast dark black inks all other wished to imitate or reproduce. Which always seemed to arrive in the form of a bottled ink.
A ballpoint however came with a thinker oil based ink or jell with a far higher concentrate of pigment and color. This highly concentrated jell could be compressed, contains more pigmentation or color, didn’t spill plus today sometimes comes pressurized. That means working upside down, under water, in outer space or during freezing temperatures is in order. A half tone line could be produced on many surfaces, under lots of different circumstances in order to complete multiple task unlike other pen systems and that certainly makes life much better.
*Operates in extreme hot or cold! Today, Fisher Space pens among other models have pressurized cartridges that offer new opportunities for all those interested. A pressurized cartridge should work in sever heat zones or long hot summers as well as frigid winters in the northern territories or countries. Many industrial jobs deal with refrigeration or freezers conditions or extra hot environments. High flying aircraft or space mission include those particular working conditions. Expanding a products working conditions certainly increases its popularity and salability.
*Can be used upside down! We’re back to looking at a products usage or practical applications because that’s what our market is based upon. Many times throughout our daily lives marking or writing on surfaces confronts us. Unfortunately the location of those chores aren’t always to our likings so having the correct tool at hand is what it takes to complete the job. A pressurized ballpoint pen can work upside down or in any other position which means each and every task is possible. We also don’t have to worry about breaking the our tip, dulling points or locating something other than what me normally carry, a ballpoint pen.
*Writes in outer space! If we look back in history we’ll remember that the Biro patent was sold to the British Air Force because they needed a writing instrument that worked while in flight. Refilling a pen or broken pencil tips didn’t fill the bill while flying an air craft was taking place. Water based ink pens simply didn’t work properly with limited gravity nor did the pilot have time to search out a different pencil if the lead broke or to sharpen it while doing maneuvers.
*Works underwater! So how many times have you had to write on something wet or underwater? During that job I bet you realized a graphite pencil or a water based ink pen didn’t properly work. Again a ballpoint pen comes through while other instruments fail to finish the chore.
*Draws over grease! Lets take a look at all the experiences we’ve had in our lives as an active artist. Everyday we run across many different situations, surfaces and combinations of events that build up our level of experience. Mixed media, repairs, construction, fabrications or remodeling or modern art jobs take in many surfaces. Today’s pressurized oil based inks or modern day synthetic resins used by a ballpoint pen can write over greasy surfaces unlike as never before. The greater the tool the greater its importance.
*Is very easy to use! A ballpoint pen is one of the easiest tools or instruments on earth to use, its inexpensive, very reliable plus a world class selling product. Put all those features together and you get the most sold pen in history!
Historically, Gary Stith
