Art director of Paris-based design studio Joe & Nathan, Jonathan Bréchignac has been creating a series of very detailed carpets that are drawn using ballpoint Bic pens. The author says that his designs and patterns are inspired by a combination of artistic forms and influences.
The Carpets is a series of drawings by French designer Jonathan Bréchignac. Made to fit the size of muslim prayer rugs, these pieces are done only with ballpoint pens, except for small details. The dimension of time is essential in this work, it takes several months to make one. Painstakingly detailed, it explores different ways and patterns to create a unique and motley whole with the simplest tool, following the doing more with the less precept. They are inspired by different types of art, such as Oriental, Pre-columbian, Gothic, Japanese, native American, so as military camouflage and animal patterns. Together, they create a mix of civilizations and religions bringing them forth a new meaning.
Bréchignac’s carpets are not made of textiles at all. Instead, they’re made with Bic pens: gigantic illustrations of carpets on sheets of paper, accomplished with a meticulous attention to detail that makes them look almost three-dimensional. Bréchignac’s carpets were created as a response to this modern idea of art as a commodity. “I wanted to work every day on the same drawing, to make each and every day a little part of a bigger thing.”
Although Bréchignac’s designs are extremely elaborate, they are amazingly not sketched out beforehand. Instead, Bréchignac draws each line and pattern directly on his sheet of paper, taking a step back at every point to examine the whole and plot what he wants to do next. His process can be extremely time consuming which can take him up to six or eight months to complete a single carpet. As a matter of fact the first one took a year and a half. But the results are amazing! You can not really understand the technique and the difference until you get very close to them.