Portrait Via Stick, The First

One of my favorite parts of being a visual artist is the limitless opportunities to experiment with an endless array of mediums. The drawing to the left, as well as the series of drawings to follow, is drawn using a thin, bent stick a friend of mine found years ago. She carved it into a point and for the longest time I wanted to use it. And I finally did.

It's a simple process, dipping the stick's point into a bottle of India ink (Speedball Super Black) and doing your best to get the marks you're looking for. What I enjoy the most about this process is the way this method fights against you. It's not willing to deliver a fluid mark, unlike say a bamboo pen, as the stick only holds a small bit of ink before you hit a dry patch, then it's dip and repeat. It's a trying endeavor, one that asks for patience. But there's something to be said for results born out of difficulty. Sometimes they produce ineffective work and sometimes they produce work that would only exist in it's current form because of the difficulties that occurred in their making. The lesson here is to not shy away from that challenge but to welcome it, accept it and see what comes.

​- D