Drumsticks crossed on a bottle-cap drumCotton swabs, 2, and a bottle cap. Cover the cap with a paper skin and cross the two swabs on top of it.
A gumball machine filled with prints from both ends of each swabCotton swabs, 3. A different color on each end; flip the swab between presses so the globe fills with six colors.
Leopard spots: a tan press with a broken ring dragged around itCotton swabs, 2, and yellow paper. Print the tan presses first; with the second swab drag a black C around each.
A bare tree with a white bud on the end of every twigCotton swabs, 12, and gray paper. Three whole ones side by side as the trunk; snip the rest in half as branches.
A birch grove: upright swabs ticked with black markerCotton swabs, 7, and blue paper. Glue them upright at uneven heights and tick short black marks across each.
A cat's face as wide as the page with six swab whiskersCotton swabs, 6. Draw the face first; glue three whiskers each side of the nose, tips pointing outward.
A fish skeleton whose ribs step down toward the tailCotton swabs, 9, and blue paper. One whole swab as the spine; snip the rest shorter and shorter across it.
A glued skeleton: whole swabs for limbs, halves for ribsCotton swabs, 14, and black paper. Whole ones for the arms, legs, spine and hips; snip four in half as eight ribs.
A made-up constellation: every tip a star, every stick a lineCotton swabs, 7, and black paper. Lay the swabs tip to tip in a shape of your own, glue them down and name it.
A rib cage with a red paper heart showing behind itCotton swabs, 9, and black paper. Glue the heart first; one swab as the spine, four ribs slanting down each side.
A snowflake with a soft cotton tip on every pointCotton swabs, 9, and blue paper. Cross three whole swabs at their middles; snip six in half as side branches.
A startled face whose hair is swabs standing on endCotton swabs, 12. Draw the face low on the page and glue the swabs straight up from the top of the head.
A subway map with a station at every tipCotton swabs, 10. Color the sticks in three marker colors, meet them tip to tip and letter a name beside each tip.
A wind farm: each tower one swab, three more fanned from its topCotton swabs, 8, and blue paper. Two towers upright; three swabs fanned evenly from the top tip of each.
A wrapped mummy: swabs laid across a card figure, two eyes peekingCotton swabs, 15, and card. Cut a simple figure, glue the swabs across it at slight slants and add paper eyes.
An X-ray of your own hand with a swab bone in every jointCotton swabs, 10, snipped in half, and black paper. Trace your hand; three pieces a finger, two in the thumb.
Snipped tips: wool, snow and foam 13
A breaking wave with snipped tips heaped on its crestCotton swabs, 12. Paint a single curling wave; glue the snipped tips along its crest and down its falling edge.
A cauliflower: a head of tips inside two paper leavesCotton swabs, 12, and green paper. Pack the snipped tips into a round head; fold two paper leaves up around it.
A cotton plant with open bolls of four tips eachCotton swabs, 8. Four snipped tips touching make one boll; a brown paper star under each; four bolls on drawn stalks.
A poodle with tip pom-poms at its head, tail and anklesCotton swabs, 10. Draw the dog in outline; clumps of snipped tips for the topknot, ears, tail and four ankles.
A sheep whose fleece is snipped tips packed tightCotton swabs, 20, and black paper. Snip off both tips of each; pack the forty tips on a drawn oval; add a face.
A wide grin filled with two rows of tip teethCotton swabs, 10. Draw a big open mouth in red; glue ten snipped tips along the top lip and ten along the bottom.
An igloo of tips laid like bricks around a doorway archCotton swabs, 20. Draw a dome and an arch; lay the snipped tips in rows, each over a gap in the row below.
Catkins: six snipped tips climbing each of three drawn twigsCotton swabs, 9. Draw three brown twigs; glue six snipped tips up each, on one side and then the other.
Fresh snow: a snipped tip in each fork of a bare brown treeCotton swabs, 10. Draw the bare tree in brown; glue a snipped tip in each fork and a row along the ground.
Popcorn spilling over the rim of a striped paper tubCotton swabs, 15. Fold the tub from striped paper; pile the snipped tips above its rim and drop a few beside it.
Santa's beard in overlapping rows of tipsCotton swabs, 25. Draw the face and hat; glue the snipped tips in rows from the chin down, each row over the last.
Snowberries in twos and threes on a painted green sprigCotton swabs, 6. Paint the sprig and its paired leaves; glue the snipped tips where each pair of leaves meets.
Steam puffs trailing from a drawn train, each puff biggerCotton swabs, 5. One snipped tip nearest the funnel, then clumps of two, three and four trailing back.
The tip is the thing: candles, cattails and oars 13
A barbell held up by a drawn weightlifterCotton swabs, 1. Color both tips black and glue the swab above the head of a drawn lifter, a hand under each end.
A microphone in the hand of a drawn singerCotton swabs, 1. Color one tip black, draw the singer mid-song and glue the swab into the raised hand.
A pot of loaded paintbrushes, each tip a different paintCotton swabs, 6, and clay. Dip each top tip in a different paint and stand them, tips up, in a clay pot.
A rowing boat with two swab oars, the blades wetCotton swabs, 2, and paper. Fold or draw the boat; one swab each side, its outer tip dipped in blue.
A snail peering about on two swab stalks, a pupil on each tipCotton swabs, 2. Draw the shell and the body; glue two swabs as stalks and dot a black pupil on each top tip.
Candles for a clay cake: one swab a year, each flame a colored tipCotton swabs, 1 a year. Color each top tip orange as a flame and stand the swabs in a clay or paper cake.
Cattails by a pond, each top tip colored brownCotton swabs, 5, and clay. Color the top tips with brown marker and stand the swabs in a strip of clay.
Drumsticks crossed on a bottle-cap drumCotton swabs, 2, and a bottle cap. Cover the cap with a paper skin and cross the two swabs on top of it.
Knitting needles pushed through a small ball of yarnCotton swabs, 2, and yarn. Wind a small ball of yarn and push the two swabs through it crossed, tips out.
Snow-topped pines: paper triangles on swab trunksCotton swabs, 4, and green paper. Glue a triangle over each swab and leave the top tip showing as snow.
Street lamps along a drawn road, every tip lit yellowCotton swabs, 4, and dark paper. Glue them upright along the road and touch each top tip with yellow marker.
Toasting marshmallows: three swabs leaning over paper flamesCotton swabs, 3, and paper. Glue a red and orange paper fire; lean three swabs over it, white tips above.
Tulips with tips dipped pink over paired paper leavesCotton swabs, 5, and green paper. Dip each top tip in pink paint; glue the swabs upright, two leaves on each.
Printed with a swab: presses, drags and twirls 13
A bead necklace on a self-portrait, one press a beadCotton swabs, 2. Draw yourself to the shoulders; print the beads along a pencil curve, two colors in turn.
A color wheel of twelve presses, a clean end for every colorCotton swabs, 6. Mix each in-between color first; print the twelve in a ring, using each end of each swab once.
A comet: one fat white press dragged into a fading tailCotton swabs, 1, and dark paper. Press a white dot and pull it sideways until the paint on the tip runs out.
A gumball machine filled with prints from both ends of each swabCotton swabs, 3. A different color on each end; flip the swab between presses so the globe fills with six colors.
A head of wheat printed with the side of the tipCotton swabs, 1. Press the side of the tip, not its end, in pairs up a drawn stalk; each print is one grain.
A pixel picture on squared paper, one press a squareCotton swabs, 4, and large-squared paper. Plan a heart or a mushroom in pencil; one press fills one square.
A rose bush of twirled printsCotton swabs, 2. Press, twirl a half turn and lift: the print swirls like a rose. Drag green for the leaves.
A traffic jam of pen-drawn cars on printed wheelsCotton swabs, 1. Draw six car bodies nose to tail in pen; print two black wheels under each one.
Ants on the march: three presses a body, six pen legsCotton swabs, 1. Three presses in a row make one ant; add the legs in pen; march them along a drawn crumb trail.
Bubbles rising from a drawn fish until the tip runs dryCotton swabs, 1. Draw the fish low on the page; load the tip once and print upward until the paint gives out.
Leopard spots: a tan press with a broken ring dragged around itCotton swabs, 2, and yellow paper. Print the tan presses first; with the second swab drag a black C around each.
The six faces of a die in swab pipsCotton swabs, 1. Draw six squares; print the pips for one to six, the middle pip first on the odd faces.
Your name in a code of presses and short dragsCotton swabs, 1. Invent a code: a press is a dot and a short drag is a dash. Write the key on the back.
Smudged and lifted: the swab as a blender 13
A chalk car with speed lines smeared out behind itCotton swabs, 1, and chalk pastel. Draw the car, then drag the tip from its back edge straight behind it.
A drawing wiped out of a chalked board with a damp tipCotton swabs, 2, and a small chalkboard. Chalk the whole board, then draw by wiping lines out of the dust.
A glowing star: chalk rubbed off the edge of a paper cut-outCotton swabs, 2, chalk and a paper star. Chalk the star's edge thickly, hold it down and rub the chalk outward.
A marker flower pulled into a wash with a wet tipCotton swabs, 2, and washable markers. Draw the flower in thick lines; stroke a wet tip along each to spread it.
A tone strip of five boxes from one loaded tipCotton swabs, 1, and a soft pencil. Load the tip on a dark scribble and rub five boxes in a row without reloading.
Chimney smoke: one pencil scribble dragged upward in loopsCotton swabs, 1, and a soft pencil. Scribble a dark patch at the chimney top and pull it up and away in curls.
Cloud shapes erased from a page of blue chalk dustCotton swabs, 2, and blue chalk. Cover the paper in chalk, then rub cloud shapes out of it with a dry tip.
Fog around drawn lampposts, smudged along the groundCotton swabs, 1, and a soft pencil. Shade a band along the ground and rub it sideways until the posts fade into it.
Fur on a chalk kitten, every edge flicked outwardCotton swabs, 1, and chalk pastel. Chalk a solid kitten shape, then flick short strokes outward all around it.
Headlights: two chalk discs dragged into beamsCotton swabs, 1, yellow chalk and black paper. Chalk two small discs; drag each sideways into a widening beam.
Oil pastel bands at dusk, every join rubbed softCotton swabs, 4, and oil pastels. Lay yellow, orange and red bands; rub each join with a clean tip until it blurs.
Stars lifted out of a damp watercolor nightCotton swabs, 3, and watercolor. Paint the sky dark; while it is damp, touch a clean dry tip down for each star.
Three drawn eggs, each with a soft shadow to one sideCotton swabs, 1, and a soft pencil. Shade a small dark patch under each egg and rub it out to the same side.
How it works
A cotton swab is a wad of cotton on a short rod, usually tipped at both ends. These 65 ideas use the rod as a bone or a line and the tip as wool, a flame or a brush.
Read the full guide
Cotton swab painting ideas
Thirteen pictures are printed with the tip, and none is a plain row of dots. Press the side for A head of wheat printed with the side of the tip, twirl it for A rose bush of twirled prints, or load both ends for the gumball machine.
Glued, snipped or dry
Whole swabs glue flat as bones and lines: A glued skeleton: whole swabs for limbs, halves for ribs takes 14. Snipped tips become wool, snow and popcorn. A dry tip rubs pencil and chalk: Fog around drawn lampposts, smudged along the ground needs one swab.
Questions and answers
What can you make with cotton swabs?
Skeletons, snowflakes and constellations from whole swabs, sheep and snow from snipped tips, cattails and candles where the tip is the thing, printed pictures and smudged drawings. This list holds 65, each with its swab count.
What are simple cotton swab art ideas?
The ones that take a single swab: A comet: one fat white press dragged into a fading tail, Ants on the march: three presses a body, six pen legs, a microphone for a drawn singer and a barbell for a drawn weightlifter.
How do you paint with a cotton swab?
Press the end for a round dot, press its side for a grain shape, twirl it for a swirl or drag it for a tail. A fresh end for each color keeps the paints apart: the color wheel uses six swabs for twelve colors.
Can you draw with a cotton swab and no paint?
Yes. The Smudged and lifted group holds 13 where a dry or damp tip rubs soft pencil, chalk, oil pastel or washable marker: fog around lampposts, clouds erased from blue chalk dust, headlights dragged into beams.