Great for signing an image on an icon, it allows you to make both an even wide line and a thin line, depending on the side of the feather. We tried it ourselves, or we wouldn’t have recommended it ☺

The feather of the woodcock is about 20-30 mm long, wedge-shaped with a pointed end. It is located at the last wingbone of the woodcock, on the finger of the hand. There is only one such feather on each wing of a woodcock. It can be inserted into a small brush yourself, or you can buy it from us already together with the pen (then you can buy only feathers).

Even in ancient Russia, iconographers used such a pen for the finest works, because it was used for the most delicate works. it does not compare to kolinsky or squirrel brushes. The woodcock’s feather allows you to paint with water colors. It is also used by Palekh artists.

The woodcock has a unique feather called the “picturesque” feather. The “picturesque” feather is a rather elastic and thin feather just over two centimeters long. This feather is shaped like a tiny wedge with a pointed tip. There is one “picturesque” feather on each wing of a woodcock. It is located on the wing fold and at first glance is almost invisible, but on closer inspection it immediately catches the eye due to its unusual shape. It is due to this shape and its qualities that as far back as in ancient Russia iconographers used it for the most delicate works… Thin and resilient “pictorial” pen is in many ways superior to kolinsky and squirrel brushes … . What can I say, it is pleasant and tempting to paint with a brush created by nature.
The sharp and relatively hard end of the pen allows graphic artists to use this pen to draw with water colors. Academician of painting N. Samokish, for example, appreciated the feathers of woodcock for the fact that they could put the finest strokes and lines in watercolor. To this day, the feather of a woodcock is the main tool of many Palekh artists, who paint world-famous caskets, cigar-cases and other products with it”.
There is information that V.A. Tropinin painted his “Samson Sukhanov” with a woodcock pen.