Metal point question

[klfaber]

I prepared Arches Platine paper with Golden's Silverpoint Drawing Ground. I drew with copper, brass, and sterling silver 0.9mm metal points.
As the oxidation process began the copper and some brass marks began to fade on the drawing to the point that some marks have almost disappeared. I am finding this very frustrating and disappointing, as I am seeing parts of the drawing disintegrate.

I was wondering if anyone has had this experience and has any suggestions for how I can prevent this in the future.
I'm not sure if it is occurring because I pressed very gently in some areas, leaving very little metal on the paper or if I prepared my surface incorrectly with the Golden ground.

Thank you!

[George O'Hanlon]

Copper marks become yellow or greenish yellow on many grounds (although not all grounds), rather than darkening due to oxidation. This is because the copper oxidizes to form a complex cupric salt which is blue-green in combination with cupric oxide, which is black. Bronze or brass also tends to become yellow or greenish-yellow, due to its copper content, although to a much lesser degree.

We have not tested all metalpoints on the Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground so we cannot determine what you have observed in your drawings. Fading seems like a strong word. Are you exposing the drawings to sunlight or bright light? That will fade any drawing.

I consulted with Susan Schwalb regarding this issue. She has been working with metalpoint since 1979, and she made the same observations as I wrote above.

Susan has provided a copper-, gold- and silverpoint drawing that she made in 1979. She writes, "it still looks like this and the ground is white Shiva casein on paper."

[John Kennedy]

One thing I have found out is that when using silver point, copper, brass, whatever, don't stack then on each other, as the air needs to be able to get to the surface being drawn on. In fact don't stack anything on them. Apply even pressure for the main drawing, lighter pressure if you want lighter line color and heaverier pressure for darker line color. I use mostly the silver point verses the other points, but it all depends on the color of the ground I am using, which are very soft and light pale in color.

Natural Pigments traditional ground for silver point works great and I like to add a pinch of color to the ground to create my different pale colors, like yellow ocher, Indian red or lapis lazuli, keeping my colors very pale and toward the white side of the color spectrum, but you can use any color in the ground, you like.

Some drawings with copper look nice on a peach color ground and brass on a blue color ground. Remember to only use enough color to barely change the white, you are looking for very pale color and not bright, as you might not be able to see the metal point if to much color is used. I'm talking a pin head of color added at a time.

Happy drawing! John

[ 19. May 2011, 22:45: Message edited by: John Kennedy ]