Twitchet
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi all, as some of you know I enjoy painting chameleons in acrylics, gouache and watercolour,
Yesterday I finished a drawing of my dear xanth in 'Goldpoint'.
For those who haven't heard of it 'Metalpoint' is drawing technique going back to the late gothic/early renaissance era before graphite was used as a drawing implement- a drawing stylus if made from a rod or wire of gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, fixed in a pen and drawn over paper or surface that has a 'tooth' to it-usually the paper has been treated with a paint that has powder fine marble dust or chalk added to it, so that it is slightly rough and picks up the particles of metal. You can draw a line with a copper penny or a piece of jewellery or fix a piece of wire in a wood dowel and get drawing- gouache is abrasive enough to use as a covering on a piece of thick smooth watercolour paper and you can begin.
If you see drawings of Leonardo's or Duerer's many were in silverpoint. Silver tarnishes over time so the drawing change and darken.
I used a wire of 24 ct gold, this doesn't tarnish, The metalpoint drawings take a long time as the more pressure you draw with doesn't result in a darker line,
dark lines or shading is built up slowly and lightly ' if drawing with a feather' over a long time and very gently, the end image should appear to float and can be almost ghostly . This picture on a tinted 4x6" gesso panel was also very lightly coloured with casein paint.
Art lesson over
Tilted to the light you can see the metallic sheen of the gold- which oddly isn't gold coloured
The gold drawing point.
Yesterday I finished a drawing of my dear xanth in 'Goldpoint'.
For those who haven't heard of it 'Metalpoint' is drawing technique going back to the late gothic/early renaissance era before graphite was used as a drawing implement- a drawing stylus if made from a rod or wire of gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, fixed in a pen and drawn over paper or surface that has a 'tooth' to it-usually the paper has been treated with a paint that has powder fine marble dust or chalk added to it, so that it is slightly rough and picks up the particles of metal. You can draw a line with a copper penny or a piece of jewellery or fix a piece of wire in a wood dowel and get drawing- gouache is abrasive enough to use as a covering on a piece of thick smooth watercolour paper and you can begin.
If you see drawings of Leonardo's or Duerer's many were in silverpoint. Silver tarnishes over time so the drawing change and darken.
I used a wire of 24 ct gold, this doesn't tarnish, The metalpoint drawings take a long time as the more pressure you draw with doesn't result in a darker line,
dark lines or shading is built up slowly and lightly ' if drawing with a feather' over a long time and very gently, the end image should appear to float and can be almost ghostly . This picture on a tinted 4x6" gesso panel was also very lightly coloured with casein paint.
Art lesson over
Tilted to the light you can see the metallic sheen of the gold- which oddly isn't gold coloured
The gold drawing point.
