About this item
The Art of Ballpoint offers a historical perspective of the pen as an art medium and how it has evolved and grown in popularity. The book features several leading contemporary ballpoint artists who are creating complex and provocative masterpieces. They discuss their methods, the messages in their work, and their personal connections to the pen.These fascinating pieces range from psychologically charged portraits to mutant animals to spectacular wall-sized abstractions. The chapters cover classical drawings, modern abstractions, graphic illustration, contemporary realism, and sketchbook styles.Interspersed throughout the book, ballpoint techniques are demonstrated through stepped-out exercises that explore line drawing and crosshatching, shading and tone, photo-realism, drawing texture and pattern, working in layers, mixing other media with ballpoint, and more. Glide through this inspiring book and enjoy the intricate and impressive works created from an everyday tool.
About the Author
MATT ROTA
Illustrator/Educator/Author
EDUCATION
BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art
MFA,The School of Visual Arts
CLIENTS
The New York Times, The New Yorker, The LA Times, Fast Company, McSweeny's, Foreign Policy Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Chronicle Books, Medium, Pro Publica, The Center For Investigative Research, Columbia Journalism Review, GQ Italy, Vice, etc etc...
Growing up in Upstate New York in a modest town overlooking Lake Ontario, he developed an interest in drawing from his mother at a young age. When he was seven she took him to figure drawing classes at a local college where she was studying to become a teacher. This was his first exposure seeing the process of drawing. By his early teens he was studying his mothers anatomy and art history books. His interest grew through his high school years, inspired by comic book artists like Jon J. Muth, Kent Williams, and Dave Mckean, he became focused on figurative narrative drawing. After high school he was excepted into the Maryland Institute College of Art, and studied in the Fine Arts department focusing primarily on drawing and painting. After graduating with a BFA he worked as an assistant comic book colorist for a number of years where he developed an interest in digital arts, which would lead to his developing a personal style that blends both traditional drawing with digital techniques. During this time he began to pursue a career in freelance illustration. While sending his work to art directors he also applied to the School of Visual Arts MFA in Visual Essay program. He was simultaneously excepted to the program while having his first work published in New York Times. He continued to freelance while completing his MFA. Soon after graduating he began teaching at The Maryland Institute College of Art in the illustration program, and soon after at the School of Visual arts. Aside from freelancing and teaching Matt was creating a body of paintings that would go on be included in numerous group shows and later solo exhibitions at galleries in Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. Matt currently lives in Brooklyn, continues to freelance as an illustrator, is an instructor and the School of Visual Arts in both the continuing education, and MFA Visual Narrative programs, as well as exhibiting his drawings in galleries internationally. He's received awards and recognition for his work from the Society of Illustrators, Communication Arts, 3x3 Magazine, Spectrum, American Illustration, and Luerzer's Archive.
FOLLOW HIS WORK AT
mattrotasart.com
mattrotasartnews.tumblr.com
@matt_rota
