{"id":1529475,"date":"2024-05-16T00:31:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-15T23:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/?p=1529475"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:05:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T15:05:37","slug":"the-art-of-silverpoint-drawing-history-materials-and-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jacksonsart.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/16\/the-art-of-silverpoint-drawing-history-materials-and-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Silverpoint Drawing: History, Materials, and Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"

Silverpoint Drawing<\/a> is when you draw with a silver stylus on a prepared surface and the lines are traces of silver left behind by the point. Silverpoint is a historical European drawing tool that was used extensively throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance which evolved from ancient styli used for drawing and writing made from metal, bone, and wood. Here, I am going to explore the role and practical use of Silverpoint as a Renaissance drawing medium and explain how it can be used in a historically authentic manner today.<\/p>\n

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Renaissance Workshop Silverpoint Stylus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Art of Silverpoint Drawing: History, Materials, and Techniques<\/h2>\n

What is Silverpoint Drawing?<\/h2>\n

Silver is soft enough to draw with on surfaces like paper, parchment, or wooden tablets coated with a pigmented preparation such as the traditional ground made of Bone White pigment combined with hide glue. While the drawing approach of the Renaissance masters is enabled by the traditional ground they perfected, pieces of silver will draw on almost anything with a stable and slightly abrasive surface on which particles of silver can be embedded. While being integral to the craft of drawing in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, drawing with silverpoint has gained interest in modern times, even finding renewed relevance within the sphere of contemporary art. <\/p>\n

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Renaissance Drawing as a Traditional Craft<\/h2>\n

During the Renaissance, artists were custodians of the craft traditions which had their roots in European Medieval culture. The Silverpoint Stylus was a tool ubiquitously associated with painters, scribes, manuscript illuminators, and other artists and craftsmen alike. Silverpoint was used for making permanent and semi-permanent designs on parchment, wooden tablets, and by the fifteenth century, coated paper. The Medieval and Renaissance approaches to drawing relied on a tool with a very fine tapered point because of the meticulous and precise methodologies and approaches of craft in these times. This is why silverpoint had such an important role in artistic training and was used from the Middle Ages into the time of Leonardo (1452-1519) and Raphael (1483-1520).<\/p>\n

When you look closely at a drawing by Renaissance artists such as Leonardo or Raphael, you can see that the initial lines aim at delineating specific aspects of the form comprising the outline, such as the apex of the head, the base of the chin, and the edge of the orbital. This approach of seeking to represent the particular locations of parts, and their relationships to one another, underpinned Renaissance drawing and reflects the legacy of Medieval artistic culture and craft. Medieval design emphasised the outline and linear design of each aspect of a motif, such as the head of the Virgin or the figure of a saint, and as artistic training and practice during the Renaissance stemmed from Medieval craft tradition, it continued to exhibit these conventional traits. Copying and memorising motifs from model or exemplar designs was an integral aspect of Medieval and Renaissance artistic training. Artists in the Renaissance would creatively reinvent or interpret traditional motifs as drawing practices developed into a more dynamic and naturalistic artistic approach. Copying and memorising motifs of heads, figures, and their individual parts and features persisted into the Renaissance which enabled reflexive and intuitive execution of drawing from memory, invention, nature, or from a combination of these.<\/p>\n

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How Silverpoint Was Used in the Renaissance<\/h2>\n

It is likely that the first thing that Leonardo in the workshop of Verrocchio (1435-1488), or Michelangelo (1475-1564) in the workshop of Ghirlandaio (1448-1494), ever drew with was a silverpoint stylus on a reusable wooden tablet, before drawing on paper prepared with a ground. Apprentices would use silverpoint to copy from model drawings to learn their master\u2019s approach and develop their abilities. Silverpoint was suitable for learning because of its conduciveness to the deliberate and precise linear approach of traditional design, and because it enabled apprentices to make errors and modify their drawings without hesitation or concern. This fostered a highly productive and intuitive manner of drawing. <\/p>\n

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Renaissance Workshop Silverpoint Stylus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Silverpoint renders errors in the drawing process non-problematic because of the inconspicuousness of the preliminary lines which would amass as the drawing developed in layers and modifications were built up. The difficulty of erasing silverpoint is often cited as something that makes silverpoint drawing an approach that requires exacting accuracy at the beginning. While silverpoint is not easily rubbed out, its efficacy for light and dark strokes alongside the virtue of its smooth and gliding drawing feel on a traditional ground allows for layers of preliminary sketching to be incrementally modelled into a precise design. In extant Renaissance silverpoint drawings, permanently visible errors have enabled artists to form their conception of their represented subject and possess an enchanting beauty. Drawing more incisively on top of a lighter preliminary sketch was inherent to the practice of drawing in the Renaissance and thus errors needed not be erased. In the Renaissance, many artists used silverpoint into artistic maturity, with Leonardo being a central example of an artist who made some of the era\u2019s most iconic drawings using the medium. Leonardo, among others, would continue to work in silverpoint, usually in conjunction with other media, such as Lead White heightening and touches of ink on paper prepared with an off-white or coloured ground.<\/p>\n

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Most silverpoint drawings from the Renaissance are made on paper prepared with a tinted ground. The paper was prepared with Bone White pigment (usually calcined poultry or lamb bones made by burning bone until ashen white) and other historical pigments bound in hide glue made from goatskin or parchment clippings. Bone White provides an ideal surface for silverpoint drawing because it can be ground into a silken paste, combined with hide glue, brushed onto paper, and then burnished ivory smooth. It is a unique drawing surface that enables the stylus to glide over the paper and make clean lines which can vary from very light to very dark by applying light or heavy pressure with the stylus. Renaissance artists drew with remarkable linear versatility on this ground which is why their drawings are so visibly distinct from modern silverpoint drawings made with modern materials. The process and materials used by Renaissance artists were reciprocally adapted to one another. Thus, to feel and experience drawing, and to apply the process of drawing as it was in the Renaissance, this combination of Silverpoint Stylus and a Bone White-based ground is essential. <\/p>\n

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The use of tinted or coloured grounds enabled artists to develop a system of chiaroscuro in silverpoint drawing by including other media such as highlights in Lead White bound in gum arabic or a tempera of hide glue or egg yolk. While silverpoint can be used for dark areas of shading on a traditional prepared ground, darker concentrations of shadow can be accented with touches of ink wash. <\/p>\n

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This application of silverpoint, sometimes in conjunction with other metalpoint styli such as leadpoint, formed the basis of progressing towards painting and enabled artists in training to develop sensitivity in distinguishing and skill in representing tonal gradations. The versatility of all art media thus also applies to silverpoint. As mentioned above, silver will draw on almost any surface which has a lightly abrasive texture. This could be paper coated with modern watercolour paint, acrylic paint, or even household emulsion. Pigments used do not even need to be white for silverpoint to work: as long as the pigment particles are hard enough to draw silver particles away from a piece of silver upon abrasion, silverpoint drawing is being done. Alternatives such as these may not facilitate the effective execution of drawing like a Renaissance artist but in principle, they would allow silver to be deposited on the surface. <\/p>\n

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How Renaissance Drawing and Historical Drawing Media are Connected<\/h2>\n

Silverpoint is fundamental to an understanding of the approach of the Renaissance artists because their methodology developed, in part, owing to the properties of silverpoint, and because it enables more direct, focussed, and intentional execution in each line. Renaissance artists began their drawings with schizzi, where the structure of their subject was delineated with lines, which sought to establish the shapes and relationships of the parts. A finely tapered silverpoint stylus drawn on paper prepared with a pigmented ground is an experience of drawing as embedding a line into a surface, simultaneously leaving behind a trace of metallic material and a tactile physical impression. This gives the line itself a more immediate and purposeful feel which suited the craft methodology and approach of Renaissance artists. As artists learned to draw first with silverpoint, this ethos of highly intentional line-making and applying a methodical formula to the drawing of a subject was rigorously instilled in artists, and would remain the basis of their practice when working in other media such as pen and ink or chalk.<\/p>\n

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How to Apply Renaissance Drawing Practices and Traditions Now<\/h2>\n

Drawing with an approach rooted in the Renaissance tradition is possible today. It is essential that the process by which Renaissance artists learned to draw is understood, and that effort is made to attune to the mind of Renaissance artists by interacting with the theories of practice and the material culture of Renaissance art. Renaissance artists learned through copying model drawings and emulating their masters’ processes. This can be done through reconstructing their method by piecing together their manner of executing their drawings into stages which is the central project of The Renaissance Workshop. Our courses teach the method applied by Renaissance artists based on a quarter of a century of research and analysis. Through reconstituting the world of Renaissance Workshop traditions and practices, we have made the education of Renaissance apprentices accessible today and provide the opportunity to learn the process and methodology used by artists trained by Verrocchio, such as Leonardo.<\/p>\n

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A Bear Walking<\/em>, c. 1482\u201385
Leonardo da Vinci
Silverpoint on light buff prepared paper, 10.3 x 13.3 cm | 4.06 x 5.25 in
Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Renaissance artists started their drawings with loose yet highly intentional lines, mapping the structure of their subject. The first step is understanding the manner and order in which Renaissance artists began their drawings and then proceeded to completion. Memorising the intrinsic design of the body parts, facial features, and overall design of the human head and figure was fundamental knowledge for a Renaissance artist which unlocked their capacity to draw with economy, inventiveness, and intuition. With a historically authentic technical approach partnered with historically authentic materials, we can truly experience and enact Renaissance drawing today.<\/p>\n

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What Are the Materials You Need to Get Started?<\/h2>\n

Renaissance artists started drawing on a boxwood tablet coated with Bone White pigment. This can be made at home or bought. A silverpoint stylus has the forged tapered tips suitable for a Renaissance approach. The most suitable paper is handmade laid paper made predominantly from linen rags. You can prepare the paper for silverpoint drawing with hide glue and various historical pigments, with Bone White pigment being the most commonly used in traditional silverpoint grounds.<\/p>\n

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List of Materials<\/h2>\n

To prepare paper for Silverpoint Drawing:<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Smooth White Paper<\/a>
\nHide Glue*<\/strong> (either from goatskin or parchment clippings)
\nWater
\nBone White**<\/strong> (and other pigments for tinting if desired)
\nGrinding Slab<\/a> of Porphyry or Glass
\nGrinding Muller<\/a> of Porphyry or Glass
\nPalette Knives<\/a>
\nSoft Hair Brush<\/a> (from one inch to two inches wide)
\nPaint Pots and Containers<\/a>
\nDeep Pan for Heated Water
\nAgate Burnisher <\/p>\n

*<\/strong> Historically made from sheepskin parchment or the collagenous tissues of goats is highly desirable for silverpoint grounds for its incredible durability, longevity, flexibility, and texture. It is pure from chemicals, being made in the manner used from ancient times into the Renaissance. Gum arabic can be used as a natural non-animal-based replacement but it provides a much softer and less durable surface. <\/p>\n

**<\/strong> Bone White is the ideal pigment used for silverpoint grounds. It has the right particle hardness and can be burnished. Chalk can be used as a natural non-animal-based replacement but will often provide a softer ground. Lead White is also an excellent historical pigment often used in silverpoint grounds during the Renaissance. It even improves the consistency of a Bone White ground. <\/p>\n

Recommended Tinting Pigments:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indigo
\nRose Madder
\nOchres (any colour)
\nSienna
\nUmber
\nLamp or Bone Black
\nTerre Verte
\nVermillion <\/p>\n

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How Do You Prepare a Ground for Silverpoint Drawing?<\/h2>\n

1.<\/strong> Take some Bone White pigment and grind it very fine with water on a slab with a muller. When it is very fine and has a silken consistency, it can be set aside to dry and then stored in a paper bag. <\/p>\n

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2.<\/strong> When you wish to prepare paper, you soak hide glue pieces in water. One part hide glue (from goatskin or parchment clippings) to twenty parts water works. <\/p>\n

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3.<\/strong> Once the glue has softened overnight it can be gently heated through and melted into the water by placing the glue pot in a bath of hot water. Do not allow the glue to boil or become too hot. <\/p>\n

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4.<\/strong> Then regrind the Bone White pigment into some of the warm glue to make a thick paste, which you can then transfer into a pot into which you can thin down with more glue and a little water until it is thin enough to brush onto the paper. <\/p>\n

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5.<\/strong> Apply one, two, or several coats of ground, and then burnish with an agate stone. Burnishing the paper will make it velvety smooth and feels wonderful to draw on but is optional. Renaissance artists did not always burnish their silverpoint ground. Other pigments such as Lead White, earth colours, Vermillion, or other historical pigments can be added to the Bone White to tint the ground and alter the consistency.<\/p>\n

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What Techniques You Can Apply With Silverpoint?<\/h2>\n

Silverpoint is extremely versatile. With a silverpoint stylus on a traditional ground you can draw incredibly fine lines and also broader lines. Silverpoint is particularly suited to fine and small drawings using a linear approach for the design and formal aspect of the drawing and hatching for the tonal aspect. Hatching is built up in layers using patches of parallel strokes which amass into an appearance of shadows in the drawing. Silverpoint is very suited to multimedia and can be drawn or worked over with pen and ink, wash, watercolour, and white heightening.<\/p>\n

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By starting a drawing lightly, you can produce light-greyish lines and build up the pressure and make almost black lines by pressing hard. This is the nature of the traditional ground made of Bone White in conjunction with a tapered Silverpoint Stylus. Silverpoint is brilliant for drawing in multiple layers. You can start a drawing with lots of cursive and squiggly lines, seeking out a representation of your subject and incrementally refine the drawing into a developed design. <\/p>\n

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Silverpoint can be erased. While it is often stated that silverpoint cannot be rubbed out, this is untrue. It does not brush away easily like charcoal and it does not rub out in the same way as a modern pencil on ordinary paper but silverpoint can be removed by rubbing it from any surface. If you draw with silverpoint on prepared paper and rub it hard with a finger, you will disturb either the deposited silver, the ground, but likely both. Silverpoint is far more stable than pencil or charcoal but the assumption that it is not erasable is an impractical one when one considers that silverpoint drawing is simply the act of transferring one dry particle to a dry surface.<\/p>\n

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Renaissance Workshop Silverpoint Stylus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shading with silverpoint is best done with one-directional hatching or curvilinear cross-hatching. A broad and soft area of tone can be applied with the side of a stylus or a flat piece of silver but whereas the point embeds the silver into the ground deeply, a broad and flat application is less stably embedded. Depending on how firmly embedded silverpoint is, it can be smudged but this can leave a very undesirable effect. It is certainly worth experimenting with by an adventurous creative.<\/p>\n

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Renaissance Workshop Silverpoint Stylus<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How Do Initial Marks Change Over Time?<\/h2>\n

Silverpoint is very permanent and not vulnerable to fading on exposure to light. It does however tarnish, turning from a blueish grey to a sepia brown over time. Other metalpoint media made from other metals such as copper or copper-alloy (brass) do fade. Lead-based metalpoint media do not fade but are more easily rubbed away from a surface. <\/p>\n

How Do You Protect the Final Drawing?<\/h2>\n

Traditional silverpoint grounds are made with hide glue which is hygroscopic. This means that moisture or humidity can disturb or even disperse a drawing on it. Silverpoint drawings should therefore be kept in a dry place to maintain their permanency. The appearance of silverpoint drawings can be altered by rubbing with fingers or other rubbing implements. This means that they need to be looked after carefully in order to prolong their longevity. <\/p>\n

Silverpoint is a medium which opens up the world of Renaissance drawing like no other. A handmade silverpoint stylus on a traditionally prepared surface is a way to experience a tactile and immediate interaction with the history. Silverpoint can allow you to feel the historical process of drawing used by the Renaissance masters, in conjunction with an understanding of their methodology and craft approach.<\/p>\n

Follow The Renaissance Workshop on Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

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Further Reading<\/h2>\n

Artist Review of Golden Silverpoint Ground<\/a><\/p>\n

In Conversation With Roman Szmal<\/a><\/p>\n

Artist Review of Sinopia Chalk Ground Casein Gesso for Silverpoint<\/a><\/p>\n

What Unbleached Titanium Can Add to Your Palette<\/a><\/p>\n

Shop Renaissance Workshop Materials on jacksonsart.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Silverpoint Drawing is when you draw with a silver stylus on a prepared surface and the lines are traces of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":1529436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,955,15232],"tags":[63,638],"class_list":["post-1529475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-technique","category-artful-features","category-silverpoint-drawing","tag-drawing","tag-silverpoint"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Art of Silverpoint Drawing: History, Materials, and Techniques - 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