The quill pen is made from a feather of a large bird, and was widely in use prior to the invention of the dip pen, the metal-nibbed pen, the fountain pen and the ballpoint pen. It is still used as by calligraphers because it provides a fine stroke and more flexibility than a standard steel pen.
The most desirable feather to use for a quill pen is a primary flight feather taken from a large bird in spring. Goose feathers are the most common, and more-expensive swan feathers are considered deluxe. Other bird feathers used for quill pens come from the crow, eagle, owl, hawk and turkey. The barbs are stripped off the feather to allow the writer to grip the shaft of the pen more easily.
Once the quill feather is collected and the barbs removed, the shape of quill is altered by letting it stand in hot sand. A small shard knife is used to reshape the nib and hollow out the tip of the quill. The nib is sharpened from the outside to create a point. The feather's hollow shaft behaves as an ink reservoir.
Until the emergence of the steel pen, most draftsmen used quills. In the Middle Ages it was popular for its ability to create intricate images in manuscripts. It was used starting in the medieval era, and was eventually replaced by the stronger and more extravagant steel-nibbed pen, which was popular in post-medieval calligraphy. The quill pen influenced the design of the fountain pen, which was the professional man's ultimate status tool in the 1950s and 1960s.
The fineness of the quill pen's nib allows the artist to create small linear figures or ornate decorations on paper or parchment. This characteristic, combined with the flexibility of the point, makes the quill pen easily adaptable to personal styles. The soft and supple tip of the quill allows for a wide variety of strokes, from soft, thin lines to energetic, thick lines.