Preparing the Old Masters Silverpoint Ground:

This ground is no longer offered, but the instructions are here for those who wish to use a glue-based ground:

Sprinkle the one half ounce package of glue powder into two and 7/8 cups (liquid measure) of water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Rinse whisk thoroughly immediately after this, and every, use! Cover vessel and allow to stand at room temperature for at least one hour.

Heat inside second vessel, one inside another to provide a water bath - nested stock pots work well, or you can stand one vessel on submerged small jars, glasses, cans, beads or marbles to raise it up (see illustration ); stir frequently and monitor the temperature.

 

When 120°F. is reached, turn down the heat and gently pour the pigment powder into the hot glue, whisking constantly, while monitoring the temperature.Add pigment until mixture is consistency of light cream.Use a large stainless steel spoon to bring pigment up from the bottom of the vessel, and stir well to see if desired consistency is reached.You can sift the pigment through a wire strainer or seive first, for a smoother texture.
Note: thinner may be better than too thick, you can always add more pigment tomorrow.

 

Pour the liquid ground into new, clean vessel. Screen* if desired; I don't. You can use this right away if you desire, or you can cover and refrigerate over night. Note: sheer polyester fabric provides the finest screen, but the ground must be worked through this with a utensil of some sort, and it takes a while. A faster alternative is doubled-up plastic window screening, but some granularity may result.

 

The absolutely finest surface is obtained by mulling, which achieves a greater dispersion of the pigment particles, but you'll want to ensure that the tools are the same temperature as the ground, or mull the pigment into part of the water before it's blended into the glue. Nobody I know is currently doing this ! I generally just sand between coats of the screened ground, and that works fine for me.

The instructions on use below are for the kit as mixed in these instructions.

 

 

Using the Old Masters Silverpoint Ground ™

Cover your work area with a drop cloth or newspapers. If you do get the ground on anything other than the target surface, wipe it immediately with a hot wet sponge. Dried and cured ground is very resistant to abrasion and weakening by water, so if you don't get to it right away, you may have to live with it.

 

Heat the ground to 120-135 °F in the water bath arrangement again - 135 °F is about the same temperature as what you can stand to put your hand in at your kitchen sink. Check the interior of the ground with a thermometer to ascertain that this temperature has been reached, or test it by hand, using extreme caution; Under no circumstances allow the ground to be heated to 140°F, and don't burn yourself either! The adhesive qualities of the ground can be destroyed by excess heat, plus it may become discolored. Basically, you just want it to become liquified, enough to be easily brushable. Don't cook it on the stove!

 

Apply the first coat of ground to the paper in even strokes in one direction with a fine, wide brush such as a one-inch or larger red sable or equivalent synthetic. Wet the brush in clean water first to prevent the ground from drying and hardening inside the ferrule. Try to leave as smooth an application as possible - remember, this is going to be your drawing surface. Work quickly — the ground sets fast. Wash that expensive brush right now! and allow the first coat to dry.

 

Note: the finer the brush, the smoother the surface and the better the response. Yes, I know, wide sables aren't cheap. That's why you never leave it there unwashed for any period of time, right? And, believe me, after drawing on surfaces with hills and valleys left by a coarse throwaway "chip" brush, not to mention stray boar bristles bonded forever to what was going to be your masterpiece, you'll be searching for wide, smooth brushes. If I find a good supplier, I'll offer them here. I use one called a "Polar Flo," about 2 inches wide.

 

Using Other Grounds
First, some discussion and comparisons: Every marking device leaves something on the surface being marked. Pencils are abraded by paper, as are chalks and crayons. From the very beginning, metalpoint worked the same way. Early Italian grounds employed materials which were so abrasive that the resulting surface was the ancient equivalent of sandpaper - yet, unlike later metal-compound pigment-based grounds, the marks were initially grey and consistently faint. Later grounds showed dramatic improvement.

What's going on here? Can it be that each tiny particle of metal-compound pigment is itself composed of smaller micro-abrasives? I believe that is the case, and that the smaller the particles of silver left behind, the stronger the mark. Consider silver in a macro state, such as cutlery or tea service: granted, over time the surface of the metal would likely develop a patina, but not as quickly as an artist might like. Rubbing the same surface with a cloth treated with polishing compound makes a profoundly dark area on the cloth; in fact, were one to simply rub a piece of silver with one's hand, one will end up with dark areas on the skin, even if the piece had just been polished. Clearly, the smaller the particle of silver, the better the mark. In any case, it has become obvious that a superior ground must not only include the proper pigment / abrasive agent but must also take into account the action of the binder/vehicle, how that binder affects the action of the pigment abrasive. One should also consider the permanence of the final product, plus perhaps other qualities. Many "grounds" allow silver to leave a mark, but some are better than others.

 

 

Isolationist Agents? Acrylic polymer-based ground formulations coat the individual particles of pigment, acting as an isolator. The result limits the action of the particle against the metal point. Yes, you'll still get a mark, and many would consider that good enough. But I found it disappointing. Adding zinc oxide powder to acrylic gesso improves the response greatly, but not enough to call it totally successful in my opinion.

 

The one good thing about acrylic-based formulations is the permanence and inertness, and surface preparation is a little bit quicker. It is not likely to be damaged by contact with moisture. And at least one contemporary artist makes exsquisitely beautiful works using acrylic gesso, although it may take him up to a year to finish one; I submit a different ground material would speed the process!

[On the left, a comparison of what's possible (top) with what some people are prepared to accept (bottom). These drawings were photographed together at the same time, and no tweaking was done to dramatize the results (it wasn't necessary.)]

 

 

Fugitives: Gouache and Chinese white watercolor give a much better response than acrylic-based grounds, but still not what one could hope for. I've already mentioned in previous sections why it is difficult to get a deeper tone with gum Arabic-based preparations, and I must also add that they are not in any way permanent; they are easily damaged by water, and the surface is prone to swelling. In damp or humid climates drawings may be destroyed - by the ground actually flaking off of the support, by mildew or by being attacked by gum-eating vermin. And I know from experience that a splatter of spilled water will have profound adverse effects on your just-finished silverpoint masterpiece. Not good.

[To the left, an early gum-based figure study showing damage from four water drops.]