METALPOINT
Each drawing tool, whether graphite, charcoal or pastel, has a special characteristic. Metalpoint allows an artist to be very precise and subtle in his or her mark making. Scratching the surface is a way to create unique and delicate lines and textures.
Metalpoint
Metalpoint is a type of drawing made by dragging metal across a surface prepared with gesso to leave a faint grayish mark. Metalpoint tools can be used for writing on soft surfaces like wax or making an underdrawing on primed paper, or making finished drawings on a prepared paper or panel. Artists used silver, tin, and lead to create the drawings. The softness of these metals made them effective drawing tools.
Technique
Silverpoint is made with a silver wire inserted into a pin vise or mechanical pencil. The artist then draws with the silver tipped tool on a gessoed surface. The initial marks of a silverpoint appear grey as other, but silverpoint lines, when exposed to air, tarnish to a warm brown tone. The oxidation becomes perceptible over a period of several months.
Alphonse Legros. Study of a Figure. c. 1888. Metalpoint. French. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.