Pen and Ink: Inspired to Draw with Sticks

Prepping sticks for drawing requires minimal effort

The mark of a clever art book is that it inspires readers to make some marks of their own. 

James Hobbs's book, Pen and Ink: Contemporary Artists, Timeless Techniques (affiliate link), inspired me to make a few marks.

Specifically, I was inspired to learn more about drawing with sticks, just plain ol' dirty sticks, of which I have an abundance.

Drawing with Twigs: Ch'ng Kiah Kiean

The image from the book that truly inspired me was an ink drawing of Ng Fook Thonk Temple by Ch'ng Kiah Kiean, and there are additional twig drawings in the book by the same artist. The fine lines and detail of the drawings belie the artist's humble tools, dried twigs. Yet there's personality and interest in the drawings that would not be there had Kiah Kiean used commercial pens, which create a more consistent line.

Preparing Sticks for Drawing

Googling "drawing with sticks" provided me with two videos that both showed how to draw with sticks, one that demonstrated how to whittle a tip and another that showed almost the same results with an unchanged tip. It seemed easy enough after that, almost "anything goes." I chose a variety of sticks from my yard; some oak, some cedar, and even some trumpet vine, and I pulled out my woodworking tools. In this instance, I used pruning shears, a fine sanding block, and a box cutter.

A variety of sticks can create a variety of line thicknesses and qualities

I used the pruning shears to clean up the tips of the twigs and the box cutter to make sharper points and flat tips. I used the sanding block to create more consistent surfaces.

An Experiment in Drawing with Sticks

To test my twigs I used a watercolor paper and a royal blue Pelican ink. I did try watering the ink a bit, but it created a bleed I did not really like, especially when using the trumpet vine. Using the trumpet vine created quite a "blobby" line, but it worked well as a "brush." On the other hand, the cedar, especially the small cedar twig, worked beautifully, as did the oak twig with the sanded tip.  As expected, the cedar twig I split created a lovely double line. Using the cedar and oak sticks made my handwriting extra lovely, and as an added bonus, I don't have to clean my pens at the end of my session.

With materials at hand, including a brand new "art supply" from my yard, I was able to follow up on an inspiring inclusion in Hobbs's book. The experiment was a complete success, and I look forward to hearing about your endeavors in the comments.

Want to read more about no fuss art projects and supplies?  Try
Adult Coloring Books
How to use Beautiful Buttons
Point of View and Emotion

Copyright Amy Lynn Hess. Please contact the author for permission to republish.