Art of your own making

'I'm keeping my beady-eye out for you' - Indian ink, quill and printer paper - George Roberts May 2020

How to make a Quill Pen

Why bother to make a quill in this day of I-Pads, jelly pens and felt-tips? As a very old architect who can remember drawing with Indian ink on linen, I can say that the Rapidograph and Pelikan Graphos pens of my youth were OK on tracing paper but difficult to use on the soft handmade papers preferred for art and printing projects. I embrace modern technology but I do like the feel of a pen and pencil in my hand. In some way the process of making marks the old fashioned way seems more ‘to hand’ and ‘alive’.

So when good friends surprised me with a gift of Carne Griffiths book ‘The Organic Painter’, I was intrigued that it included a section on making a quill pen from a feather. 
Having completed this very easy low cost project, I am pleased to say the quill is a ‘delight’ to draw with and I recommend this quill pen and project to all budding artists!

Stage One: Selecting and preparing your feather quill

Step One: You need a feather. Large and strong ‘Swan, Goose or Gull’ feathers make the best quill pens. Don’t forget the late Joe Roberts's warning - “Swans are nice birds but dangerous” so best wait to a feather falls out rather than trying to ‘pick your own’.

Step Two: Remove some of the feathery bits from the ‘nib end’ with a scalpel and very fine sandpaper. This will ensure the quill is easier to hold and write or draw with when it’s finished.

Step Three: Wash an empty food can and remove its lid. Fill the can with dry sand or very fine gravel. I used the decorative gravel I keep for landscaping my tropical fish aquarium.

Step Four: Place the filled can in an oven and heat on 180 degrees centigrade for 15 minutes.

Step Five: Taking care not to burn your hands, remove the can from the oven and place it on a heat proof surface.

Step Six: Push the nib end of your quill about 5 to 8 centimetres into the heated gravel in the tin and leave it there for 10 minutes and then remove it. This heating process hardens and tempers the tip of your quill pen and enables the successful cutting to create a nib.

Please take care when using sharp blades so as not to cut yourself or others.

Stage Two: Cutting the nib

Step One:  Hold the quill between thumb and index finger in a comfortable position. My feather had a bit of a curl on it.  Having it curl over the back of my hand felt most comfortable for me.  When you have it feeling right for you, take a felt tip pen and mark a dot on the top of what will become the pen nib at about one centimetre from the tip. This is so you do not forget which is the top of your nib  when you come to cut it.

Step Two: Using a very sharp blade (a scalpel or new Stanley knife blade) cut at an angle under the side with the marked dot. Cut from the feather to the nib end as this will not cause the quill to split. Any hairy bits along the line of the cut may be removed carefully with very fine sandpaper.

Step Three:  Using the sharp blade, cut a curved line on either side of the nib.

Step Four:  Using the sharp blade trim any loose fibres from the nib by cutting straight across the nib end. Choosing where you make this cut determines the width of the pen nib and the thickness of line it draws.
I chose quite a wide nib as this is easier to cut, more robust in use and creates nice thick lines which I prefer for freehand drawing.

Carne Griffiths in his book includes another step between Steps Two and Three in which he cuts two short lines along the length of the nib to aid ink flow. I did not do this as I thought it would make the nib less strong and with my thickish cutting blade was prone to fabrication disaster. The ink flow on my ‘fat nib’ seems to be OK and meets my drawing needs. I just have to dip it in the ink pot a little more often.

Thanks to Carne Griffiths for the quill fabrication technique and I recommend his book ‘The Organic Painter’ to all - it is full of interesting and lovely things!

Carne Griffiths