Samia Al Homsi Dagher, a software engineer and illustrator from Lebanon, has made a name for herself by creating stunningly realistic ballpoint pen portraits. From celebrities to commission portraits of everyday people, this talented artist’s artworks are sometimes hard to tell apart from photographs.
Born in 1987, the Tripoli-based artist started drawing when she was only five years old, and as you can see from the images below, she has gotten a lot better since. She is now considered one of the world’s best ballpoint pen illustrators, and it’s not hard to see why. The attention to detail, the precision of every stroke and dot, the perfect proportions of various facial features, all come together to form drawings that are sometimes indistinguishable from photographs.
Born in 1987, the Tripoli-based artist started drawing when she was only five years old, and as you can see from the images below, she has gotten a lot better since. She is now considered one of the world’s best ballpoint pen illustrators, and it’s not hard to see why. The attention to detail, the precision of every stroke and dot, the perfect proportions of various facial features, all come together to form drawings that are sometimes indistinguishable from photographs.
“Most of my sketches are made with a simple ballpoint pen, which everybody uses while writing. I sometimes start with a little doodle and end up with a complex piece of work that has lots of details,” Samia told Arab Ad, in a 2016 interview.
Apart from a degree in fine art, Samia Al Homsi Dagher also studied technology, getting a BS in computer science and an MA in software engineering from the Lebanese University. It may be her passion for technology that helps her achieve this level of realism with a simple ballpoint pen.
