Silverpoint was commonly practiced during the Renaissance by artists such as Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and Raphael, and is the ancestor of the modern graphite pencil. Silverpoint is a drawing instrument composed of a small, pointed metal tip, usually of silver, encased in a holder.
Silverpoint is rarely used today except by a few persons who take an interest in traditional artists' materials, yet it was a favorite technique of the old masters. The disuse of silverpoint, after graphite sticks came into use during the 17th century, is one of the most curious details of technical art history. It is peculiar that an instrument once used by the most famous artists who ever drew on paper should have come to be neglected and despised by their successors.
To prepare grounds for metalpoint or silverpoint drawing technique, you will need a rigid support. Select a heavy, smooth-surfaced paper, paperboard, parchment, or wood panels, such as plywood or hardboard. Paper with a rough texture or smooth glossy surface is undesirable for silverpoint and metalpoint drawing.
What's the difference between full-hard, half-hard, and dead-soft silverpoint? This article discusses the difference in the metal points.
This live episode of Art Materials Advisor features exclusive interviews by George O’Hanlon and Tatiana Zaytseva with silverpoint artists Koo Schadler, Lauren Redding, Erin Kono, and Michael Paul. Learn all about these artists and how they created the remarkable artwork they’ve achieved with the ancient drawing medium of silverpoint.
Drawing has always been my primary means of expression. It has been both a meditation and an obsession since I was a boy. I always say my favorite drawing tool is a 2HB Dixon Ticonderoga pencil. But ever since I saw Leonardo da Vinci's Studies of a Horse and Bust of a Warrior, I knew that I had to explore the metalpoint medium.
As a painter who began working about 43 years ago, I have been fascinated by the techniques of the great masters of painting. In the last 20 years, I have spent much time understanding their approach to painting, materials, and specific practice. I have spent much of my time in a relatively narrow area of study, although I have picked up little bits from the early Flemish painters to nineteenth-century Academy painting. However, my absolute concentration has been on those painters that moved me the most in face-to-face museum confrontations. They are Rubens, Velázquez, Titian, Leonardo and Rembrandt. Their technique seems to be shrouded in a great mystery, and while artists and educators have written about them over the last several hundred years, much of it is contradictory. There are a few exceptions, and the book published by Virgil Elliott entitled Traditional Oil Painting is a significant advance forward compared to most of what has been previously written on the subject. Ernest van...
