At first glance these extraordinary pictures appear to have been created by an artist armed with the softest pencils and finest paints.

But library assistant Ross Kinkaid needs only one thing to produce his masterpieces – a 30p biro.

The 25-year-old, who works at the University of Kent, has swapped his traditional tools for budget ballpoints and discovered a love for the intricate technique. The artform is painstakingly time consuming, with each piece taking as long as 150 hours to complete.

But despite his talent, fine art graduate Ross says he has no real desire to make cash from the pictures, describing drawing as a “hobby”.

The former Canterbury College student, of Queen’s Road, Whitstable, said: “I have been drawing ever since I can remember, but when I took up biro drawing people seemed to be really impressed with what I was producing.

“I researched a couple of really talented biro drawers and I saw the work they were creating – it was amazing and I wanted to be a part of that.

“It’s all about trial and error and every different piece gives me a bit more experience.

“Sometimes the ink will smudge like any other pen and that can be frustrating.

“I think a lot of people assume I have drawn them with a pencil, but as soon as they realise it’s with a biro, they’re much more interested.”

Ross discovered his talent five years ago while sketching a character from the computer game Halo.

He now often draws animals and has been working on tigers and cats to improve his “fur technique”, which he hopes to use when drawing human hair.

Despite devoting his artistic talent to the biro, he recently helped out a friend and illustrated a children’s novel. To see more of Ross’s art visit his Facebook page – Ross J.K. Art