Silverpoint Drawing Complete

Notes on using the Point and the Old Master Formula Silverpoint Ground,
and my "perfect surface":
Material Safety Data Sheet for primary ground ingredient as supplied by the manufacturer.

The angle on the conical end of the thicker point makes it easy to combine line styles with blending techniques. I find that the more subtle values are challenging because the ground is so "active" - that is, responsive to the point - and so I shape the point to maximize contact area and use very light pressure while building up tones gradually. The shape I use requires laying the point down at quite an angle in order for the sides of the cone to completely come in contact with the surface. Others might wish that the point could be a bit more vertical.

You can reshape the thicker point to any angle desired, by rotating the stylus while dragging the point at an angle across wet-or-dry sandpaper. The point is provided with an angle I find convenient for me, but you may prefer a different angle to accomodate your particular style. Remember to keep the end of the point rounded a bit to avoid scraping the ground and / or cutting the paper.

The point should be polished as smoothly as possible. This will occur over time as the point is used on the ground, but in the meantime it will remove ground much as a tiny rasp would. Use successively finer grades of wet-or-dry sandpaper to smooth the point (220-320-400-600 grits), followed by emery polishing cloth or buffing compound. Alternatively, you can prepare a "polishing panel" by applying at least four coats to masonite, letting it dry for at least a couple of weeks, and vigorously rub while rotating the point on its surface.

Gradual buildup of tones with this ground work much better than direct, aggressive attack, although the "attack" approach can also achieve dramatic results. I recommend that you experiment with small pieces until you've gained an understanding of the response.

A gradual buildup technique I use for subtle tones involves gentle and very small circular movements, while watching the surface very carefully for the resulting tone. Further buildup and gentle blending with the point produces the richest darks you can imagine. The bevel end works much the same way, and is intended for very delicate lines (edge use) as well as a broader blending stroke (flat use).

The point's conical end can produce excellent crosshatching, but be careful if you've been doing a lot of blending with the sides, as this can make the end too sharp; round the point by gentle sanding. Don't breathe the silver dust, it can't be good for you.

The direction of the point's movement seems to affect the nature of the mark. In some directions, it seems to scrape and removes more ground while leaving a fainter mark; in other directions, you can actually feel the pull of the ground as it removes silver from the point, and the mark is strong and beautiful! I haven't analyzed the physics of this.

If you hit a blister or other defect in the surface, stop and blow the particles out, then gently apply the very end of the point to the exposed underlayer and build up the tone there to match the surroundings. Don't apply a lot of pressure there, the problem may spread through layer fractures, although this is rare. You can also make a small tube of a scrap of sandpaper and gently feather the edges of the crater, then apply a drop of ground to build it back up.

When handling the prepared surface, wash and dry your hands carefully, and use a cover sheet to protect the surface. The prepared surface will absorb skin oils from busy hands, and the acid in the oil will affect both the response of the surface and the color of the marks (shifts rapidly toward orange brown).

On aging drawings:

Over time the marks will achieve a patina - a gradual shift of the color of the marks from warm black to umber or sepia. This can be accelerated by leaving the drawing outside in open air, where any sulfur in the atmosphere will come running to perform its task. Some local environments work faster than others. Here in western Pennsylvania, the transformation occurs rapidly in summer, I suspect due to sulfur compounds escaping from all the natural gas wells that dot the local landscape. I hear that rapid color shift also occurs in Florida, where a sulfurous odor is obvious in the water they use for watering civic lawns (recycled waste water from sewage treatment plants?) I have attempted to achieve this indoors, with a sulfur-compound gas and a fuming hood, but I was unsuccessful - wrong gas, probably. I've learned to be patient. If you live too near petroleum processing plants (Gary, Indiana? Long Beach, California?), you probably have the perfect atmosphere for rapid color shifts.

My perfect drawing surface:

I have hit upon a process which gives me what I consider to be the perfect drawing surface for silverpoint. By the way, when I refer to "panel", that can mean a piece of "cradled" Masonite (cradling is when you build a backing support or underframe), a piece of hardwood ply, or an archival board manufactured specifically for artwork (there are several places on the Web that offer these panels. See Art-Boards.com.)

1. I cut a panel to fit the size of the paper I will be using and attach it to the cradle. Note: the cradle I use allows half an inch of overhang on all four sides, to accomodate clips. I then roughen one side throughly with medium sandpaper, but not so much as to raise clumps of fibers.
   
   
2. I coat the panel with a liberal brushing of rabbit skin glue, a 10:1 ratio by weight, and let it set up and partially dry for about three hours.
   
   
3. I place a sheet of plate bristol in the soaking tub for fifteen minutes or so, then sandwich in newsprint to remove excess surface water.
   
   
4. I apply a second coat of glue to the panel, then position the paper and smooth any air bubbles out. Positioning is easier if you stand the panel up on an easel, then bring the wet paper to the panel vertically. I've used a sponge paint roller as a "brayer" to remove bubbles.
   
   
5. I use small binder clips to ensure that the edges of the paper do not curl up away from the panel before the glue sets. If the piece is large, this takes 30 clips.
   
   
6. The paper now bonded to panel is allowed to cure for a couple of days, then the clips are removed.
   
   
7. Four coats of the Old Master Formula Silverpoint Ground are applied; the first three coats are lightly sanded smooth when dry, then the following coat is applied liberally and brushed smooth with a wide sable or equivalent. For the last coat, I pour the ground through doubled window screening material before applying and very careful smoothing. The screening is advisable because any ground which dries on the edges of the vessel it's heated in will drop tiny flakes into the liquid which will not redisperse, and you don't want to sand the last coat. Cheese cloth or other natural fiber screening will not work unless you squeeze it; it swells up with water absorption and stops the flow of the ground.
   
   
8. The panel is allowed to cure for several days. If it has been attached to a temporary cradle by mechanical or other removable means, I can then cut it up into smaller pieces.

I have also stretched paper by just cutting it wider than a panel, bending the paper over the edge while wet and then applying the clips. This avoids the hassles of tape or the expense of commercial "paper stretchers", and it works pretty well. The only drawback is having to cut off the stiffened bends. You can tape the edges of the bent over paper when it's dry enough to accept the adhesive, then remove the clips prior to coating.

Make sure the ground is at the correct temperature (see the mixing instructions) when applying it - a cooler ground, though still liquid, may set too fast to achieve a firm bond with the previous coat. And make sure you remove all the dust from sanding. A fairly good yet inexpensive dial thermometer is available from Wal-Mart in the kitchen gadgets section, and I can't beat their price at that quality. Go see 'em.