Incredible Ballpoint Pen Drawings by Mark Powell on Old Envelopes

Mark Powell's drawings are simply amazing. Using simple ballpoint pens he draws incredible portraits, usually of the elderly, on old envelopes, filling them with thought, experience, and expression. His site is definitely worth clicking through to; just keep scrolling down.

His biography and artist's statement also say something, which is unusual -- artist's statements often seem to be so much tripe. Here, let me quote it:

Biography

I studied Art at High school though my grade wasn’t what it perhaps could have been as I had to work that meant I needed to skip the odd exam. I have worked what will probably be over a hundred jobs and lived in the same number of houses, occasionally with only the streets to call home. I enrolled at University by accident, I decided to have a walk around the studios of the university one day after been fired from my then job and started to talk with the head tutor and within a few hours I had enrolled and been given a studio space. Since graduating I have had shows in America, Europe and across the United Kingdom.

Statement

For me the individual is a fascinating thing. With my mobile phone camera I take photos of people walking the street, riding the tube or bus. I do this unnoticed at first, no egos or megalomania, no sense of self-importance or grandeur can be seen but simply a life being lived. Each person is as important or irrelevant as the next. A face that is devoid of a clear emotion gives an ambiguity that is simple and intriguing, it shows the signs in scars of travel and an uncontrolled gaze; a life lived. The canvas of vintage envelopes holds the same qualities, travel scarred and mysterious, common and used by everyone just like the biro pen that I use.

Via Devid Sketchbook.