This artist knows how to make a point. 🙂
Ruel Ison Bernardino crafts sketches through thousands (or maybe millions?) of dots using an ordinary pencil or pen.
“This hobby of mine started when Kobe [Bryant] dies,” Bernardino told When In Manila.
Photo and artwork by Ruel Ison Bernardino
“May nakita ako sa TV na drawing ng isang estudyante sa blackboard using a chalk and I [thought] why not draw Kobe using a pen in thousand dots,” he elaborated. “And after that, an idea came into my mind na pwede ko din pala ito ipangregalo— as a Mother’s Day gift to my wife, I drew her in a thousand dots.” (Rough translation: I saw a student on TV who drew Kobe on a blackboard using chalk and I thought why not draw Kobe using a pen in a thousand dots? And after that, an idea came into my mind that I can do this as a gift— as a Mother’s Day gift to my wife, I drew her in a thousand dots.)
Drawing progression of his wife’s portrait (Photo and artwork by Ruel Ison Bernardino)
“Because of the pandemic, maybe out of boredom, different subjects came out,” he added.
He created a photo of Ely Buendia, the singer of the iconic band Eraserheads, as a gift.
Drawing progression of Ely Buendia’s portrait (Photo and artwork by Ruel Ison Bernardino)
During Lent, he drew Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Later on, he decided to draw Heath Ledger’s Joker.
Unlike the other drawings, which were in monochrome, this one involved different colors.
Drawing progression of Joker (Photo and artwork by Ruel Ison Bernardino)
He also drew Willie Revillame in hopes that it gets noticed by the veteran actor and TV host.
He revealed that he is working on another passion project. This time he is drawing one of his favorites, The Beatles.
Pretty sure doing this requires a ton of patience. Curious how long it takes, we asked Bernardino and he replied, “To finish a drawing, it depends on the subject. A 10×12 sketchpad size usually takes a week pero kapag napagtuunan ng pansin, 3-4 days kaya na. (but if I devote my attention to it, I can finish it in 3-4 days)”
Apparently, this technique isn’t new but still amazing though. It is called pointillism— where small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. It has been around since 1886. Branching out from Impressionism, it was developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. The term pointillism was coined by critics in the 1880s to ridicule the works of these artists but is now used without its earlier mocking connotation.
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