Silverpoint

A BIG thanks to Hi Fructose Magazine for featuring my work on their website today. What an amazing start to Victoria Day!

I mentioned yesterday that I was working on some silverpoint miniatures. I thought I’d share some shots off my drawing table. The pictures are a bit grainy but I took them in the late afternoon and the light was fading. I’ll post a good scan of the final piece when it is finished.

These are the basic tools: a piece of Linetek 600 illustration board (archival quality), sand paper, a stylus (0.5 mechanical pencil with silver wire inserted in place of graphite), and some ground (in this case Windsor Newton Permanent White gouache).

Using a hard graphite point I did a line drawing on the board. As you can see I re-interpreted the original idea from a sketch in my book.

The next step is the application of the ground. As mentioned, I am using gouache. The major consideration here is to get an even coverage (no puddles, lint or pieces of dried pigment!) The consistency of the ground is like homogenized milk.

I’ve angled the board so that you can see the ground drying on top of the drawing. The reason I do the graphite drawing with a hard pencil is that a softer lead will mix with the ground and leave unwanted streaks. I do two coats, one horizontal and one vertical.

I should hasten to add that there are many ways to to approach silverpoint, especially in the area of grounds. This is just a very simple and efficient way to get started and has been extremely useful to me over the years.

– Richard.