French artist Jonathan Bréchignac elevates the humble Bic ballpoint pen to a next-level art medium with his incredibly detailed and meticulously drawn series titled The Carpets. Developed and drawn organically as meditations, the first carpet took about a year and a half to finish, while subsequent carpets took about eight months a piece. Intended to approximate the size of Muslim prayer rugs, the smallest in the series, Carpet no°3, is roughly 37″x23″, and the largest, Carpet no°1, is 46″x29″. According to Bréchignac’s site, “The inspiration comes from different types of art (French roman, traditional Japanese, native American and Mexican) and also military camouflage and animal patterns. Together they create a mix of civilizations and religions bringing forth a new meaning to them.”

Pictured above in full and in detail is Ultraviolet – The Blue Carpet, created using only blue Bic pen. (Each of the QR codes on the corners links to its own page on thecarpet.net.) The other carpets are drawn in black Bic pen, mechanical pencil, with the occasional color pencil detail.

Check out details and full shots of Bréchignac’s The Carpets:



Finished and detail shots by the artist. Process shots by Hamus Jageland.