More About Silverpoint

Silverpoint is a Medieval drawing medium rarely practiced by artists today. Silverpoint technique allows the artist to design with very fine lines of pale-gray color on a suitably prepared surface. While initially a silverpoint drawing resembles a graphite drawing, a drawing in silver left open to the air will begin to tarnish after a few years and the dull gray lines will take on a warm, sepia hue.

Artists can exploit this tendency to tarnish by mixing non-ferrous metals in one drawing. While silver tarnishes to brown, gold will never tarnish, and copper will lighten and turn greenish. Graphite can even be used to punch a warm, dark emphasis in the pale silverpoint field.

In order for metal to make a mark on paper, the paper must first be coated with a slightly abrasive paint. This ground, made of gesso, gouache, or casein can often be tinted to produce subtle contrasts with the silver lines. The support for the abrasive paint can be almost anything: paper, wood, mylar, canvas, and parchment have all been used. Click here to see a demonstration of silverpoint materials.

Silverpoint has several drawbacks which may have hindered its continual use in the half millennium since the Renaissance: it is a medium geared to careful description rather than overt expression; building up a dark, even gradation takes time and patience, and even then, it takes great control to create contrast in the finished work. Also, once applied, the silver line cannot be easily erased without disturbing the surface and preventing the perfect adhesion of new lines.

My preferred materials and techniques haven't changed much in the twenty years since I learned silverpoint from my drawing professor, Chuck Schmidt, at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. I use Arches Hot Press 140lb. watercolor paper, and a simple stylus made from 12 gauge silver jeweler's wire held in a 2mm mechanical lead holder. For a ground, I use Plaka white casein thinned with water to the consistency of light cream, and I tint the liquid ground with Winsor & Newton watercolor. Golden Artist Colors, Inc. has also started producing a pre-mixed silverpoint ground that I like.

An excellent source for information about silverpoint, as well as links to other artists and resources can be found at SilverpointWeb.com.