Two years ago was the first time I participated in the phenomenon called Inktober. Originally it was created by an artist named Jake Porter, who conceived of daily ink drawing as a way to improve his skills. Last year he copyrighted Inktober, causing significant controversy, then got embroiled in a claim of plagiarism against him. The result has been a general shunning of the event known as Inktober. Instead artists have come up with alternative events. Like the original event, each has published a list of suggested subjects for an image. The idea of ink-only images seems to have gone in favor of nearly any medium, even three dimensional.
My plan is to do something to stretch my drawing skills and commitment, which is an echo of Mr Porter's original idea. Although it is quite a commitment since part of October I will be out of town and away from my studios and equipment. Nonetheless my plan is to produce a daily metalpoint drawing during the month of October. None of these is likely to be large, of course, but the main point of doing these is to practice the ancient skill of metalpoint drawing.
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| daVinci, "Head of a Girl," silverpoint on paper, 1483 |
Metalpoint is an ancient way of making marks. Romans and probably peoples before them used lead rods to scribe on wooden boards. (They also employed reusable wax tablets.) In the Middle Ages, lead and silver were used for marking on boards, either to write or to lay out a tempera painting. Over centuries, silver became the primary metal used for marking, probably because it makes lines as dark as lead but is harder than lead. And over a period of time those initial silver marks tarnish, as silver does, to a lovely tea color. By the time of the Renaissance the use of silverpoint was waning, though masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael certainly used it, as did the great German, Albrecht Durer.
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| Albrecht Durer, "Dog Resting," silverpoint, 1520 |
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| Joseph Stella, "Self Portrait," silverpoint, 1925 |
In the past few decades metalpoint drawing has undergone a surge of interest. Besides silver, artists these days use gold, copper, and other metals. The revival of silverpoint began with Joseph Stella (1877-1946), an Italian-born American painter and graphic artist. and continued during final decades of the century.
Silverpoint and other metalpoint have been interests of my own for several years, so there won't be a "learning curve" for the medium. And I have several styli to use during the month. The challenge will be to finish a daily drawing because metalpoint is a very exacting and demanding medium. For one thing, it's very difficult to efface a silverpoint mark, though not impossible. So any drawing must be done very carefully, and necessarily that means slowly. Alas, the likelihood of keeping up a daily pace seems small but even if I can't finish a drawing a day my plan is to draw with metalpoint, either goldpoint or silverpoint, every day in October, and I'll post results. Meanwhile here are a couple of previous silverpoint drawings.
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| Hoff, "Rosebud," silverpoint, 6x8, 2017 |
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| Hoff "Spruce in Snow," silverpoint, 6x8, 2020 |
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