Despite their metal exterior, these slender ballpoints are extremely lightweight and nice to write with.
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Billions of "Bic" pens and ballpoints from other license-holders have been sold over the subsequent years.
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After ballpoints hit the mass market in the 1950s, the store expanded to all manner of office supplies.
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The fountain pen has been imperiled by disposable ballpoints, and the keyboard seemed positioned to kill it off entirely.
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Instead of making entries by hand, whether with flowery script from ink-dipped pens in Victorian-era New York or ballpoints today, officers will type in their notes, which the app will send to a department database.
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The Sheaffer Prelude fountain pens, rollerball pens and ballpoints are a line of writing instruments made by the Sheaffer Pen Company.
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Swiss Army Spectrum Series released their S.A.S.S. Ballpoints, which look and function like regular ballpoint pens. They come with an array of foldaway blades and tools including knife, scissors, file, opener, screwdriver and battery-powered light.
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Carter played in a number of bands during the late 1970s, before meeting Jim Bob (James Robert Morrison) at The Orchestra Pit in Streatham, where their bands The Ballpoints and Dead Clergy used to rehearse. When The Ballpoints' bassist quit at the end of 1980, Les joined the band, who then went on to change their name to Peter Pan's Playground. When Peter Pan's Playground split Carter and Morrison continued to write together and formed the band Jamie Wednesday. Jamie Wednesday broke up in 1987 after some limited success.
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The popular Spirograph, mass-marketed in America during the advent of 1960s psychedelic culture, included colored ballpoints (black, blue, red, green) as part of its boxed set. The holes positioned on a Spirograph's "gears" were reportedly sized to accommodate tips of the fine-point pens provided. Artists now professionally employing ballpoint pens often cite classroom boredom as a factor allowing them to explore the writing instrument's creative applications. A mainstay of school-supply lists, students use their ballpoints to doodle onto folders, desks, and blue jeans—even onto each other.
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Ballpoint pens require little or no preparation. The immediacy allowed by ballpoints makes the pens ideal for quick sketches, convenient while traveling, and appealing to artists for whom sudden creative urges cannot be side-tracked by logistics or lengthy preparation time. For artists whose interests necessitate precision line-work, ballpoints are an obvious attraction; ballpoint pens allow for sharp lines not as effectively executed using a brush. Aside from standard ball-point sizes of fine or medium, the points of some pens are manufactured at multiple point- sizes—some in series with point-sizes ranging from 0.5 to 1.6mm—allowing for broader applications.
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The Prelude Fountain pens may be used with normal short Skrip cartridges or International sized cartridges. It is also provided with the standard Sheaffer piston converter, to fill with bottled ink. The ballpoints require a standard Sheaffer Ballpoint refill, while rollerball pens use Sheaffer Classic Rollerball cartridges.
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Jim Bob played in various bands during the late 1970s and early 1980s, one of which was Jamie Wednesday who were performing between 1984 and 1987. In 1987 Jamie Wednesday split up just before a gig at the London Astoria. Morrison and Les "Fruitbat" Carter filled in, playing along to a backing tape, and Carter USM was born. Jim Bob and Les Carter had known each other since the late 1970s, when their band's The Ballpoints (featuring Jim on vocals) and Dead Clergy (Les on bass and vocals) used to rehearse at the same studio behind Streatham station. When The Ballpoints' bassist quit at the end of 1980, Carter joined the band, who then went on to play several gigs under the name of Peter Pan's Playground.
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A ballpoint pen is a relatively low cost advertisement that is deemed highly effective (customers will use a pen daily). Ballpoints have also been produced to commemorate events, such as a pen commemorating the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. These pens, known as "advertising pens," are the same as standard ballpoint pen models, but have become valued among collectors.
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Shohei Otomo studied oil painting while he attended Tama Art University, but switched to ballpoint pens to create ink art, as oil paints are expensive. He prefers ink pens to pencils, as pencils left a silvery finish he found undesirable. He uses "ordinary ballpoints that you can buy anywhere for about 80 yen". Additionally, he uses permanent markers for coloring in objects.
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More recently, British artist James Mylne has been creating photo-realistic artwork using mostly black ballpoints, sometimes with minimal mixed-media color. Using ballpoint pens to create artwork is not without limitations. Color availability and sensitivity of ink to light are among concerns of ballpoint pen artists. Mistakes pose greater risks to ballpoint artists; once a line is drawn, it generally cannot be erased.
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Ballpoint pen artwork is sometimes associated with Folk art. Using ballpoints to create artwork fits with the non-conformist tendencies of self-taught, so-called outsider artists. Also commonly referred to as Art Brut, artists falling into this category tend to pride themselves in their unconventional methods. In America, Jack Dillhunt uses full bedsheets to create his ballpoint drawings "because (he) couldn't find paper big enough," earning him the nickname "sheetman".
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Watercolor washes are applied by some artists in conjunction with the pen-work. Directly mixed on the drawing surface, watercolor causes the ballpoint ink to bleed, creating additional effects. Pentel R.S.V.P. ballpoint pen series, which includes pink and purple inks Using ballpoint pens to create artwork poses various concerns for the artist. Ballpoints are not known for providing many color options; standard black, blue, red and green inks are the most common colors available.
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Astronauts have made use of these pens in outer space. Ballpoint pens with erasable ink were pioneered by the Paper Mate pen company. The ink formulas of erasable ballpoints have properties similar to rubber cement, allowing the ink to be literally rubbed clean from the writing surface before drying and eventually becoming permanent. Erasable ink is much thicker than standard ballpoint inks, requiring pressurized cartridges to facilitate inkflow—meaning they can also write upside-down.
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Some of the most famous artists of the 20th century have utilized ballpoint pens to some extent during their careers. Andy Warhol and Alberto Giacometti both used ballpoints within their artwork in the 1950s. Cy Twombly exhibited small ballpoint drawings in the 1970s. Ladislao Biro himself utilized his own invention creatively; a 2005 mechanical engineering exhibition in Argentina, focussing on the invention of the ballpoint pen, included in its brochure a ballpoint pen drawing titled "Waiting" credited to Biro.
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Mylne used only black ballpoints, but produced a limited-edition print with additional background colour. Terry O'Neill made an appearance with the artwork (and the photograph from which it was copied) on British television, expressing amazement at the four weeks Mylne spent working on his contribution.ITV1, UK; This Morning; Terry O’Neill speaks about the artwork & exhibition; April 14, 2012 Photographs of Mylne drawing the image also appeared in British media.Telegraph Magazine, UK: photograph of artist drawing Sean Connery from Terry O’Neill photo.
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This can be an attraction for people who may not care for a permanent tattoo, but nonetheless enjoy the imagery. Professional tattoo artists are known to also use ballpoints to create artwork on surfaces other than skin, useful as "flash-art" tattoo samples for display in tattoo parlors. Using ballpoint pens to create artwork is also common among prison inmates, which have been showcased in magazine articles and gallery exhibitions. Separately, inmates have been known to modify ballpoint pen components into tattoo guns for use while incarcerated.
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Early ballpoints did not deliver the ink evenly; overflow and clogging were among the obstacles inventors faced toward developing reliable ballpoint pens. If the ball socket was too tight, or the ink too thick, it would not reach the paper. If the socket was too loose, or the ink too thin, the pen would leak or the ink would smear. Ink reservoirs pressurized by piston, spring, capillary action, and gravity would all serve as solutions to ink-delivery and flow problems.Collingridge, M. R. et al. (2007).
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Fountain pens are not as tightly coupled with their inks as ballpoints or gel pens are, yet some care must be taken when selecting their inks. Contemporary fountain pen inks are almost exclusively dye-based because pigment particles usually clog the narrow passages. Traditional iron gall inks intended for dip pens are not suitable for fountain pens as they will corrode the pen (a phenomenon known as flash corrosion) and destroy the functionality of the fountain pen. Instead, modern surrogate iron gall formulas are offered for fountain pens.
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For background color, Mylne masks off the silhouette of a figure he'll be drawing, then applies flat fields of colour using spray paint. Mylne's Anti Con Art series shows ballpoint-penned characters interacting with others painted in acrylic or gouache. To achieve this trick Mylne will simply paint around previously penned areas or leave those intended areas blank while painting, then ink them afterward. Mylne admits to being "passionate about detail", adding that ballpoints allow for great detail and subtle halftones "if you know how to use them".
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Cigar-sized pens containing up to ten colors have also been manufactured, although both the ink composition and mechanical quality of such pens for creating artwork may be questionable. Because of a reliance on gravity to coat the ball with ink, ballpoint pens must be held upright in order to properly dispense the ink; with the exception of Space Pens, ballpoints cannot be used to write upside down. Additionally, "blobbing" of ink on the drawing surface and "skipping" of ink-flow require consideration when using ballpoint pens for artistic purposes.
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In France and Germany, in particular, the use of fountain pens is widespread. To avoid mistakes, special ink can be used that can be made invisible by applying an ink eraser. Fountain pens can serve various artistic purposes such as expressive penmanship and calligraphy, pen and ink artwork, and professional art and design. Many users also favor the air of timeless elegance, personalization, and sentimentality associated with fountain pens, which computers and ballpoint pens seem to lack, and often state that once they start using fountain pens, ballpoints become awkward to use due to the extra motor effort needed and lack of expressiveness.
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Lennie Mace, Uchuu Neko Parade (2005), ballpoint pen and hardware on paper The following contemporary artists have gained recognition for their specific use of ballpoint pens; for their technical proficiency, imagination and innovations using ballpoint pens as an art medium. Korean artist Il Lee, living in America, has been creating large-scale ballpoint-only abstract artwork on paper since the early 1980s (see gallery below). Lee also creates artwork in a similar vein using ballpoints or acrylic paint on canvas. American artist Lennie Mace, living in Japan, creates imaginative artwork of varying content and complexity applied to unconventional surfaces including wood and denim.
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Because of a ballpoint pen's reliance on gravity to coat the ball with ink, most cannot be used to write upside-down. However, technology developed by Fisher pens in the United States resulted in the production of what came to be known as the "Fisher Space Pen". Space Pens combine a more viscous ink with a pressurized ink reservoir that forces the ink toward the point. Unlike standard ballpoints, the rear end of a Space Pen's pressurized reservoir is sealed, eliminating evaporation and leakage, thus allowing the pen to write upside-down, in zero-gravity environments, and reportedly underwater.
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Traditional pen-and-ink techniques such as stippling and cross-hatching can be used to create half-tones or the illusion of form and volume. For artists whose interests necessitate precision line-work, ballpoints are an obvious attraction; ballpoint pens allow for sharp lines not as effectively executed using a brush. Finely applied, the resulting imagery has been mistaken for airbrushed artwork and photography, causing reactions of disbelief which ballpoint artist Lennie Mace refers to as the "Wow Factor". Famous 20th-century artists such as Andy Warhol, among others, have utilized ballpoint pens to some extent during their careers.
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The function of these components can be compared with the ball-applicator of roll-on antiperspirant; the same technology at a larger scale. The ballpoint tip delivers the ink to the writing surface while acting as a "buffer" between the ink in the reservoir and the air outside, preventing the quick-drying ink from drying inside the reservoir. Modern ballpoints are said to have a two-year shelf life, on average. A ballpoint tip that can write comfortably for a long period of time is not easy to produce, as it requires high-precision machinery and thin high-grade steel alloy plates.
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Rollerball pens employ the same ballpoint mechanics, but with the use of water-based inks instead of oil-based inks. Compared to oil-based ballpoints, rollerball pens are said to provide more fluid ink-flow, but the water-based inks will blot if held stationary against the writing surface. Water-based inks also remain wet longer when freshly applied and are thus prone to "smearing" — posing problems to left-handed people (or right handed people writing right-to-left script) — and "running", should the writing surface become wet. Some ballpoint pens use a hybrid ink formulation whose viscosity is lower than that of standard ballpoint ink, but greater than rollerball ink.
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William Adkins uses ballpoints to draw intricate devices with imagined uses. Alighiero Boetti, part of a generation of Italian artists which in the 1970s came to be known as Arte Povera, has used ballpoint pens in various ways throughout his career, particularly his later calligraphic pen-works. Ballpoint pens are among the various means of creating body art, as temporary tattoos for recreational, decorative and commercial purposes. Ink is applied directly to skin in a manner similar to that of an actual tattoo gun, except that a ballpoint pen tattoo is temporary; it can be washed off at the wearer’s discretion, or left to fade at its own natural rate (see gallery below).
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The artist first became known in 2008 with his solo exhibition Landscapes at Galerie Ron Mandos in Amsterdam. This coincided with him being awarded the International Photo Award in New York for the photo series "Ballpoints", and the selection of one of his video works for the Whitstable Biennale UK. In 2010, the work of the artist was showcased in a series of major museum exhibitions, including the exhibition "Dead or Alive" at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, Marres House for contemporary Culture Maastricht, Ars Electronica in Linz, Centre of Contemporary Art, Torun, Poland."COCA Torun Poland" Accessed 14 February 2012. In addition to his work in his individual practice, Levi van Veluw has also worked on commissions for private clients.
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As with many other bored students — artists or not — Mylne doodled in biro (as ballpoint pens are known in the UK) during secondary school. Although he has spoken of original aspirations to be a painter and was still painting at the age of 18, James had already begun giving ballpoint pens greater consideration as an art medium since he was 16, or "around 1996". By his college years, prior to widespread popularity of the internet, Mylne was still approaching his ballpoint pen usage as if he were the only one using them to create art, ignorant of anyone else using them. Of his choice of ballpoints as a preferred medium, Mylne credits the pen's capabilities of precision and distinct contrast.
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The story of Ohto started when Nakata Touzaburo, an employee of the Ministry of Finance, invented a special ink, which he thought would be perfect for use in banknotes. After his idea was rejected by the Ministry, Touzaburo decide to establish a company by himself, establishing "Nakata-Ohka-do" in 1919 as a manufacturer of ink, setting up in Tokyo. When the United States Army (that had occupied Japan after the World War II) brought ballpoint pens with them, Japanese people were amazed by them and their long-lasting ink system, due to ballpoints did not need to be filled as often as fountain pens did. Nakata took note of this, and in 1949 Nakata- Ohka-do released the first ballpoint made in Japan, named "Auto pencil".
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2018 Parker Jotters are similar to the version that first came out in 1954 Following World War II, many companies vied to commercially produce their own ballpoint pen design. In pre-war Argentina, success of the Birome ballpoint was limited, but in mid-1945, the Eversharp Co., a maker of mechanical pencils, teamed up with Eberhard Faber Co. to license the rights from Birome for sales in the United States. In 1946, a Catalan firm, Vila Sivill Hermanos, began to make a ballpoint, Regia Continua, and from 1953 to 1957 their factory also made Bic ballpoints, on contract with the French firm Société Bic. During the same period, American entrepreneur Milton Reynolds came across a Birome ballpoint pen during a business trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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There are two prominent styles of the pen: the AG7 "Astronaut pen", a long thin retractable pen shaped like a common ballpoint, and the "Bullet pen" which is non-retractable, shorter than standard ballpoints when capped, but full size when the cap is posted on the rear for writing. Several of the Fisher Space Pen models (the "Millennium" is one) are claimed to write for a lifetime of "average" use; however the product literature states that the pen will write exactly 30.7 miles (approximately 49.4 kilometers). Standard Space Pen refills can be used in any pen able to take a standard Parker Pen Company ballpoint refill, using the small plastic adapter that is supplied with each refill. Fisher also makes a Space Pen-type refill that fits Cross pens, one that fits 1950s-style Papermate pens (or any pen that uses that type of refill), and a "universal" refill that fits some other ballpoint pens.
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