Ink & Sticks

Materials needed /  Ink, newsprint, 10 inch wood barbecue skewers.

I like the barbecue skewers.  They already have a point. I cut them in half and double our resources.  Much cheaper than pen nibs and different line qualities can be explored.

India ink is great but any ink or food colouring will do.

Your first drawings should be very loose. You will make mistakes, just keep drawing. Start with seeing all the types of line your stick will make. Do paralel lines and cross hatching. Dip the stick once and keep drawing till it runs out of ink, then turn it in your hand and draw some more to see if more ink comes out.  It will drip most when first dipped and as it runs out it produces a lighter gray line which is great for shading.

This drawing started with a series of short parralel lines being arranged into free flowing patterns and then the skull head was added

Once you get some control over the stick, try drawing from observation. You will still make mistakes but it is a challenge to keep working them into your drawing.

We looked at a book of surrealist drawings just before this student created this drawing. It was inspired by the book but not copied from.