How to Create a Stick Family

Creating your own stick family is a fun way to represent yours.

Driving down the road, you may notice a popular trend: stick-figure-family stickers on cars. Drawn as traditional stick figures, one figure for each family member is present, sometimes with the name labeled below. A number of variations exist on the stick-figure-family car stickers. Some include a stick-figure pet, others include clothing or items that each family member likes. For example, if the young son loves to play soccer, his stick-figure representation would have a soccer ball next to him.

Things You'll Need

• Blank bumper sticker
• Permanent markers
• Computer graphics program
• Printer

Instructions

1. Decide upon an accurate representation of your family. Do you want to include your pets? How about names? If your kids are on sports teams, do you want to include the jersey number on their stick figures? Ask them how they'd like to be portrayed.

2. Decide on the medium for drawing. If you are more comfortable in drawing by hand, use a set of permanent markers to create your stick family on a blank bumper sticker. For those who are competent with graphic software, draw the stick-figure family on your computer.

3. Draw the stick figures. Cartoonist Martin Berube offers this advice: Be original! One way Berube suggests is to draw a circle for the head and a rectangle for the body, with a line connecting them for the neck. The rectangle allows you to decorate the shirt as you please. Add legs and arms by drawing lines in the appropriate places and form the feet and hands with half-circles.

   Or you could stick to the common form: a circle head, line body and line arms and legs.

4. Print out the stick-figure family directly onto the sticker, if you opted to create the sticker on your computer. Your page must be configured to the size of the sticker.

5. Place the sticker on your car. Choose a location where it will be visible. If you opt for window placement, test it first to be sure the sticker does not block your view.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase blank stickers specifically designed for use on your bumper. These types of stickers are water-resistant, so they are better than ordinary labels or stickers that would not last as long.

• The potential for variation in your stick family is limited only by your imagination. Use your creativity to come up with the most original representation.

References

• How To Draw Funny Cartoons: How To Draw Stick Figures

Resources

• Car Stickers.com: Create Your Own Custom Stick Family Car Stickers