How to Make a Silverpoint Drawing

Detail of Artist’s Wife, Edith Holman Hunt, by William Holman Hunt (via Wikimedia Commons)

Saturday Free School Event
Silverpoint: The History, Science and Technique of Silverpoint Drawing
Saturday, June 19, 2010, 2pm.

Students of the Silverpoint course will cover the history and science of the technique. After making the drawing tools and preparing paper, students will have the opportunity to draw in class from observation and become familiar with the possibilities of the medium.

Leonardo da Vinci and other old masters often used silverpoint, a technique popular in the renaissance but seldom used today. The technique involves drawing on prepared paper with a stylus of silver, although many other metals may be used, including gold, platinum, and copper. This course will familiarize students with traditional methods of making silverpoint drawing tools and preparing drawing surfaces.

About the Instructor: David Young received a BA in Art from Trinity University, and an MFA in drawing and painting from The University of Georgia. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has also taught drawing and painting at the Interlochen Arts Academy and at the University of Georgia. He is represented in a number of permanent collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Fruitlands Museum, Trinity University, The Galveston Arts Center, and The Houston Chronicle.