At first glance this looks like a photograph of a night out, but the image has actually been drawn with BIC ballpoint pens.

The stunning pictures, which can measure three metres high, are painstakingly drawn by Spanish artist Juan Franciso Casas based on photographs he has taken.

31-year-old Casas says he can use four of the humble 14p blue BIC biros to create each of his two metre tall drawings - but always uses blue.

"We are all in the blue pen. It is very aesthetic on the white paper," said the artist.

But the Casas added there are drawbacks to using BICs to create artwork, such as not being able to delete any errors: "Wrong at the beginning is better," he said.

"You must clean your tip each time for the stroke is clean, and is designed to paint vertically, it lets you do realistic drawings."

He added that because the initial photos that the works are based on are taken during parties with friends they become an important part of his art.

A exhibition of Casas' work is on show at Fernando Padilla Gallery in Madrid until February 2nd.