Work in Progress, Another Silverpoint/Metalpoint continued....

I've done more work on the metalpoint. Above is a close up of the rocks with all their great textures. I think this was one of the big attractions of this scene for me. There is a great range of values I'm trying to get and I find metalpoint is great for achieving this. I just have to remember to be mindful of what it is I'm doing. When you want a very dark area, you add small cross hatching or circles over and over softly to build up that dark. You do NOT press hard, the metal point of the pen can scratch through the ground and you don't want that. You can see the dark area in the back forest where I'm trying not to get carried away! I've found the silverpoint to give a much darker mark than the copperpoint. I still don't know how this will age color-wise. It will be interesting to watch as I've mixed them in working and pick them up according to whether I want a softer or darker value. I'm still adding the forest, trying to show the shapes of trees, bringing some forward, pushing some back. I've also added the suggestion of the seagull.

Below is a detail of the upper tree and rock. There will be more branches added on the left side. The bottom photo is a long shot of the piece. There is still so much to do!

As you can see, it's difficult to photograph metalpoint due to the reflective quality of the metal. It doesn't look like this in person. The surface is a warm white. Thanks for looking and taking the time to read this. I hope you find it helpful if you want to use metalpoint in your next work. If you aready are a metalpoint user, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this interesting medium, especially if you've mixed them in the same work.

Next post will be on showing my materials, so I hope you will stop by again!

Work in Progress, Another Silverpoint/Metalpoint

I've started a new metalpoint drawing in a larger format, 8 1/4" x 10 1/2". It's from the same landscape of the tafoni rock formations that I've recently finished as a miniature in acrylic, seen here and as a miniature silverpoint, here. It's slow going, but I wanted to share what I've done so far. It's hard to photograph metalpoint, but I think you can see it well enough to get an idea of the work. I'm calling it metalpoint because I've used both copperpoint and silverpoint to create it. I've not used them together in the same work before. I find the copperpoint to give a softer look, it's supposed age to a greenish color. With the silverpoint, I am able to get darker values.

This is a shot of the whole piece so far. I think you can recognize it from the painting I just finished, except this is a wider format.

Here is a close up of the trees. This is slow going and I'm having to invent some of the things as I go. There is not a lot of information in the photos I'm using. I guess I should have done some sketches first since I can't erase the metalpoint, but I didn't! Most of this was familiar since I just painted it, however, not all, especially this section under the trees of the rocks and cliff. That area and to the right is where I'm working now.

This is a close image of the tafoni rocks in progress. The image as it appears on my screen is a sepia color, but is in reality, actually a warm white. Now time to get back in the studio and to work! As always, thanks for taking the time to look!

The reason I've been absent here is it's been a rough week and a half. First I had an outbreak of hives that lasted over a week. I have no idea what the trigger was. I've never had hives like that and wasn't even sure what they were at first. They weren't the itchy kind, just the burning, stinging kind, but they spread and were very uncomfortable. I didn't want to be seen! Then I had some family issues to deal with. I don't think the hives are caused by stress, but I can tell you they definitely get worse with stress! Then, if that wasn't enough, our hot water heater died and dumped water in our garage where we have boxes of books and I had some portfolios of old art work. I was able to dry out what was worth saving and consolidate everything. It was dirty, hard work that we hadn't counted on having to do!! Now the garage is all back together, along with a new hot water heater! Thanks goodness we were able to contact our landlord in time. He was leaving the country the next day for vacation! Luckily his son is a plumber and we had our hot water by 9:30 that night! Oh, that hot shower felt so good! So now I think things are as resoved as they can be. My hives are gone and we have a cleaner garage and hot water! Still worried about family things, but we do what we can and take one step at a time. Sorry, I needed a rant so, thanks for listening!