Botanical Leaf # 8; Silverpoint
I enjoy doing a variety of different techniques. I learned silverpoint from Linda Funk in the 1990's at the New York Botanical Garden. Linda is a wonderful botanical artist and an enthusiast teacher. She is also a purist. Her work is sooooo beautiful and each stroke is carefully and accurately placed. I on the other hand tend to be impatient and spontaneous. Silverpoint does not leave a lot of room for error as there is no erasing allowed! After 15 years of not doing silverpoint I decided to try it again. One of my students gave me a bottle of Silverpoint/Drawing Ground made by Golden.
Here is my leaf for day #8. It is a papaya leaf and it was done in silverpoint. I poured the ground into a cup, added a little water and painted it onto my watercolor paper with a wide flat watercolor brush in a vertical direction. I let it dry and then painted another coat in a horizontal direction. When the coating was dry I began to use a sterling silver wire to draw this leaf. The layers build up slowly as the silver is deposited onto the surface of the paper. It was nice to slow down a bit and get into the undulations of the leaf and being more careful than usual. The result is a beautiful soft silvery effect that you can not achieve any other way. You can purchase the silverpoint/drawing ground at DickBlick online.
Leaf # 8 is available for purchase at my Etsy Shop.
.
Hi Mindy,
Loving all your leaves. This one looks so ethereal and fragile. What a great technique with the Silverpoint, again a new one for me. It sounds like a very tricky process, but what a fab result.
Hi Jarnie,
I know that silverpoint can be tricky, but it actually is very relaxing. It builds up slowly and methodically. It is not that hard and I suggest that you start by doing a small piece, like a leaf to try it out. Let me know if you do and if you have any questions. Glad you are enjoying the leaf challenge!