iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

All finished with the colour. I used 12x16 watercolour paper rather than the usual 9x12 I buy. Nice to have the extra space. #ghostintheshell #fanart #drawing #ink #watercolor

Major Motoko leaping in front of a red Fuchikoma.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Testing a cheap scanner I bought. Definitely better than photographing things with my phone, but why on earth do scanners always have a raised rim around the glass that makes getting sharp scans from large images impossible? #wip #watercolor #fanart #ghostintheshell

A crop of Major Motoko in front of a Fuchikoma

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Wow, 200 followers! Thanks to you all! I often whip up quick poly models when drawing mechanical things to help with perspective and proportions. I made one for the Fuchikoma and it has a nice PlayStation 1 vibe to it. #ghostintheshell #fuchikoma #3dmodel

A 3d model of a Fuchikoma from Ghost in the Shell

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I had so much fun with the last piece of fanart. Not quite done with the ink, but it's late and I don't know when I'll be able to get back to this. I feel like the face turned out appropriately Masamune Shirow-ish. #ghostintheshell #fanart #drawing #ink

Major Motoko jumping out of a Fuchikoma mech in a dynamic pose.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I added some color to this. India ink and watercolour pencils are not a combination I've used before. #ghostintheshell #fanart #drawing #ink #watercolor

Major Motoko crouching and holding a gun

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Watching some of the new Ghost in the Shell anime. I like the art, closer to the manga. The inclusion of some more comedy is nice too, not quite so serious. It was inspired to draw some fan art. The first time I've done any mange style stuff in like 20 years. #ghostintheshell #fanart #drawing #ink

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Finally found a few hours to finish this. Another Oracle Card down. #drawing #watercolor #art

A truly obnoxious person dances with a beer in her hand at a black tie party

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

An image from the height of my digital painting days. I was a minimalist and did everything on one layer with a hard round brush. Hair was definitely my weak point. From ref, obviously. #digitalpainting #art

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Got started with colouring. I'm happy with how unhinged the lady in daisy dukes turned out. #drawing #watercolor #art #wip

A woman partying hard at a black tie event

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

My dad is a cartoonist and in the 80s he worked with Eclipse, then the third largest comic publisher. Every now and then we'd get a big box with a copy of everything they published inside, much of it aimed at adult audiences. Ever the flake, my dad just left it out for 5-year-old me to go through.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

That one "friend". You know the one. Always there, seldom invited, and somehow bringing the exact opposite vibe as everyone else. #drawing #art #wip

A person wearing cut-off jean shorts partying at a black tie party.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Another oracle card illustration: An unfashionable hat. No matter how confident you are, some hats simply cannot be brought back. #watercolor #art #drawing #oraclecard #hat

A man confidently wearing a very stupid looking hat.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Another oracle card: The amount of personal data we're asked to sacrifice at the altar of AI seems to grow with every new privacy policy. The text was a great opportunity to use my lettering scribe and some vintage red ink. #watercolor #ink #drawing

A pair of evil looking hands holding an tablet computer with a contract you probably shouldn't sign on it.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Hard to believe it's my mouse pad's 25th anniversary. Might finally be time to get a new one, but the cost of a new old stock specimen is a tad prohibitive. @3drealms.bsky.social maybe it's time for a new run of them? #maxpayne #mousepad

The mouse pad that came with Max Payne for PC in 2001

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Yet another Oracle Card: A poorly considered tattoo. It had to be a tramp stamp, but of what? Some 90s tribal garbage? An extremely cancelled celebrity? I ended up combining Kevin Spacey with some Cybersigilism, which may be the most cursed thing I've ever drawn. #watercolor #drawing #art

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

That definitely wasn't a microdose. The hair took absolutely forever. #watercolor #art #drawing #oraclecard

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Another WIP oracle card. Ever take a microdose that wasn't micro? #watercolor #art #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

A day late I suppose, but it's worth pointing out that one of the extras included with Independence Day on LaserDisc is perhaps the most patriotic lenticular hologram every created. #independenceday #hologram

It seems to grow more relevant by the day.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Another WIP Oracle Card. The concept was "What if Cocaine Bear but he's the kind of d bag who won't leave women alone at the club." I winged the bear head. Probably should have looked up some reference first. #drawing #watercolor #oracledeck #bear

He's been asked to leave every club on the strip

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Another character for the sarcastic Oracle Deck: The Flat Earther. I have a few friends that I will sometimes call upon for reference but as I consider flat earthers to be among the dumbest people alive, it seemed only fair that I use myself instead. #drawing #watercolor #oracledeck #flatearth

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Starting some pencils for a sarcastic deck of Oracle Cards. This one is the High Priestess. #drawing #pencil

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Advertise your BlueSky account with a Simpsons GIF...

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

From a reference photo I've returned to more than once over the years. Trying to remember to use the "pencil" part of "watercolour pencils" a bit more. #watercolor #drawing #pajamas

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

From a photo I took a long time ago of a Japanese fashion magazine. Egg maybe. I'm sure it's long out of print by now. Why did I take the photo? I guess I'm just a sucker for a woman wearing oversized milsurp. #watercolor #drawing

A woman wearing an oversized jungle jacket.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

From a photo of a friend holding one of my pet rats. I had to get rid of them on account of my wife being allergic. A pity, they were lovely creatures. #watercolor #drawing #rat

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

An illustration for a charity event's menu. Their original image was AI slop and I'm not going to have anything to do with that if I can help it, so I offered to redo it for them. A good opportunity to try out a new watercolour pad and brush too. #drawing #watercolor

A watercolour pencil drawing of a woman holding a baseball bat.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Trying out a new watercolour pencil palette. Much better than the plastic cutting board I was using before. It occurred to me that I've never actually drawn a flower before, so may as well tick that box while I'm here. Several photos used for ref. #watercolor #sunfower

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

The glasses gave me more trouble than anything. Ref was tiny webcam shot someone sent me like 20 years ago. #drawing #watercolor

A woman with glasses holding her shoulder

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

When I saw the ref from @trueref.bsky.social, I had to put a pressure suit her. Probably won't do much good without the gloves and boots though. #TrueRefDT012 #drawing #watercolor

A woman in a high-altitude pressure suit holding a skull inside a helmet.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 18/04/2026

I think I'm finished with this one. Knowing the right time to switch from using watercolour pencils like watercolour paint to using them like normal pencils is a skill in itself. #watercolor #drawing

A watercolour drawing of a blonde woman wearing a blue shirt

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Work in progress. I borrowed a small plastic cutting board from the kitchen and tried using that to mix colours on. Works pretty well, though I wonder why I don't just use regular watercolour paint at that point. #watercolor #wip #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Trying more wet-on-wet with the watercolour pencils. From ref. #watercolor #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

I'm gonna call this done. I was having so much fun with the hair I ended up overworking it. Oh well. #drawing #watercolor #pencil

A woman having her hair done up in braids.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Still fighting with the watercolor pencils. Trying a more basic, Zorn-y selection of pencils and being more brave with water. From ref. #watercolor #wip #drawing

A work-in-progress drawing of a woman having her hair braided

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

Fought with this some more. Doing swatches for every possible colour combination would run through all my paper in no time, so plenty of guesswork but I guess that's part of the fun, right? #watercolor #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

A million swatches later and I think I'm starting to understand how these infernal pencils work. The ref is a photo of some volunteers from a street festival long ago. I can't remember their names but I recall they were reliable. #watercolor #drawing #wip

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Another go around with the watercolour pencils with textured paper this time. The difference between each pencil's saturation when wet and dry is diabolical. Makes it hard to know how much to put down. From ref. #watercolor #ink #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

A first attempt with watercolour pencils. Definitely a change of pace from pen and ink though I'm happy with how the likeness turned out. From reference. #drawing #watercolour #ink

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

I always figured that any of the "AI" products being forced into our lives would look exactly like Shoggoths if given physical form. Nice to kill another pen, anyway. #ballpointpen #drawing #ai

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Got around to putting screen tones on this. I bought an official Deleter knife to cut them and it does make things easier. #indiaink #screentones #motorcycle #drawing

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Work in progress. My method of drawing humans from ref doesn't work particularly well for mechanical things. I can always fall back on a vague knowledge of human anatomy to work a pose out, not so with a motorbike. I must've redone the wheels 20 times. #indiaink #drawing #motorcycle #wip

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Concepts of mechanical counterpressure space suits always show them worn as an outer layer, but I think they'd be considered underwear. I see this one as meant for long duration wear in a harsh environment, hence the invasive waste processor and IVs for nutrients. #indiaink #drawing #screentone

Three views of a lady in the mechanical counterpressure suit kitted out for long duration wear.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

An digital illustration I did for the menu of a back-to-school themed charity cocktail event a while back.

An illustration of a drink menu featuring some rowdy students.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

From a recent trip to the British Museum. Those ancient Greeks certainly knew what they were doing. The Brits too, but in more of a looting priceless historical artifacts kind of way I guess. #ballpointpen #drawing

A couple admiring some of the Elgin Marbles

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 25/12/2025

In a year when I've been inundated with AI slop Christmas images from friends and family, it seems more important than ever to hand make all my cards. #drafting

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Inspired by pinup Hilda and her physics-defying onesie. This time of year, all I'd like is to set up on the couch with a few cans and listed to records all evening but somehow I feel too lazy even for that. #Hilda #ballpointpen #drawing

Hilda lounging on a couch with a pack of cigarettes and a couple beers.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Even skeletons want to celebrate the holidays, I suppose. #drawing #ink #deleter

A spooky skeleton in the forest with a spooky Christmas tree.

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Ballpoint Pentagram @ballpointpentagram.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

A Christmas present to myself: A vintage lettering scriber. I've wanted one of these for ages. A Muji ballpoint pen cartridge will fit the scriber which makes practicing a bit less intimidating at least. It's too bad they didn't make left-handed versions though.

A lettering scriber with all the bits intact.

A first, sad attempt at using said scriber.

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