creative play | handmade brushes & pens

by | Dec 2, 2020 | Art, Artistic Endeavors, Creative Play | 11 comments

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Let me just first put it out there that I don’t need another hobby.  I have too many already and not enough time to do them all!  I just can’t help myself, though.  I get curious about something and then I want to try it out.  Honestly, I like the excuse to delve into a new corner of the world of art supplies, too.  I would love to get into pottery, but I’m realizing that is very involved, and going to a class (once we’re past this pandemic) might be a good place to start.  But one thing that has captured my interest that I can do in my own studio is handmade brushes and pens.

I’ve seen some handmade brushes and pens here and there online, but it was the book The Organic Artist that gave me the nudge to try it myself.

Coincidentally, Jeanne Oliver also offered a class on handmade brushes – Natural Art Brushes by Leslie Rottner.  It’s a short class that’s packed with great information and answers questions I had about handmade brushes.  I was curious about which waterproof glue worked the best, things to look for in a “handle”, etc.  Between the book and the class, I felt like I had a good enough grasp to make some decent handmade brushes.

I collected sticks from around my yard…we have maple, cherry, and applewood.  I also gathered some pine needles.  For the pens, I had wild turkey feathers and I believe the spotted one is guinea fowl.  The fowl feathers are from my friend’s farm.  I collected them when we would “farm sit” for her years ago.  I bought the turkey feathers from a vendor at the Lucketts Spring Market about 8 years ago.

handmade brushes and pens | organic artist | miss mustard seed

And, here are my beautiful handmade brushes and pens…

handmade brushes and pens | organic artist | miss mustard seed

Aren’t they fun??

These are watercolor brushes that I made out of sticks and goat hair.

handmade brushes and pens | organic artist | miss mustard seed

Randomly, you can buy goat hair bundles off of Etsy!  It was just $12 and will make a ton of brushes.  Working with it is a little messy, but I just try to pull what I need out of the bundle carefully.

The bundle itself almost looks like a large brush.  I’m tempted to give it a try, but I don’t know how I would wash it, since it’s just tied into that bundle and not secured in any way.

goat hair bundle for handmade brushes | organic artist | miss mustard seed

To make the sticks look more like handles, I sanded them smooth and finished them off with some Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Wax.  It makes the sticks feel buttery and smooth to the touch and gives the wood some luster.

handmade brushes and pens | organic artist | miss mustard seed

(Violet loves these brushes and I often find her dragging them around the house.)

I also made a mark-making brush out of long pine needles…

handmade pine needle brush | organic artist | miss mustard seed

I clipped bristles from an old hog’s bristle brush for the other brushes.  They are stiffer than the goat hair and better for acrylics or oils.  I had a good time painting with this one made from a hollow hydrangea branch.  The stiff bristles forced me to use a lot of paint and gave a scratchy look to my painting that I sort of love.

painting out of hand made brush | miss mustard seed

I followed the instructions in The Organic Artist book about making a dip pen from a feather.  I also watched a couple of YouTube videos.  You can get very finicky with it or you can just cut a tip on a feather and clean it up a bit.  I went the simple route and it still worked great…

hand cut feather dip pen | miss mustard seed

My cuts were messy, so I’ll need to work on that.  I made two, though, and both had a pretty good point and wrote well.  I even made a little slit to act as a reservoir.

hand cut feather dip pen | miss mustard seed

I know my handmade brushes and pens will never be as good as ones I can simply buy from an art supply store, but there was something therapeutic about making them and then putting them to use.  It took me to a place where we, as humans, had to have more ingenuity.  We couldn’t order things off the internet or drive five minutes to a store with shelves packed full of incredible variety.  We had to make what we needed with what was around us.  I’m thankful for modern conveniences, but I enjoyed this little journey into simpler times.

Whether you’re into art or brushes or making pens out of feathers, I hope you found some beauty and delight in this journey as well…

 

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    11 Comments

    1. Lisa Proctor

      I love that you let your curiosity lead you to try your hand at many different things! Thanks for sharing.

    2. Sharon

      Your insane. And I say this in a kind, nice way!!

      • Addie

        lololololol….Agree!!!……in a nice way too!!!

    3. Babs

      I adore your enthusiasm! I actually borrow some of yours from time to time to get myself motivated to try a new project or finish an old one. WWMD…what would Marian do?

    4. beverlee or earl lyons

      Oh, me. Reminds me of a younger self. I understand it exactly!
      I could hardly wait once I found a new pleasure of the mind. And so it was for years. I have to really fight it, and there are so many new ones out there.
      I am just going to watch you. Thanks for the journey.

    5. JoAnn

      When I was teaching fifth grade, I would go to friends that raised turkeys and pick up feathers. Then I bleached and washed them. It helped the kids to relate to Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence after they practiced writing with a quill pen.

      This was a fun post!

    6. Katie

      I love this idea! I am inspired to make some!

    7. Jo

      I love making brushes. I made one with pine needles that were brown. It worked great for awhile, but as I was using it last night, they all just started breaking. I am off to look for green ones today!. Also you said before how much the goat hair sheds. Are you still having that problem?

    8. SueA

      I have a handmade bamboo pen that draws a wonderful line. Not refined or polished, just ragged and lively. It is wonderful to sketch with. I never gave much thought about who made it or how and this post gave me insight about that. Thanks for reminding me about it!

    9. Kim

      Super cool and fun idea! My mom used to use a brush that had ONE hair in it to do all her fine work. She could sign her name with it if need be.

    10. Roben-Marie Smith

      I am just discovering this art. I foraged the beach yesterday for sticks, feathers and other bits and look forward to making my first brushes. Thanks for the article and your brushes are lovely!

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    Marian Parsons - Miss Mustard Seed

    I’m Marian, aka Miss Mustard Seed, a wife, mother, paint enthusiast, lover of all things home and an entrepreneur, author, artist, designer, freelance writer & photographer.  READ MORE to learn more about me, my blog and my business…

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