The next morning I saw the change that occurred in what the day before had been a freshly picked fig and leaf from my tree. The silver-point drawing remained as chronicler of nature’s rhythms.
Silver-point is an enjoyable medium with which to draw although somewhat unforgiving. It is traditionally accomplished by using a small diameter wire of pure silver held within a stylus. Minute flakes of the precious metal are laid down onto the specially prepared paper using a surface ground of crushed eggshell, gypsum, or marble dust. The flakes are faint when first applied but darken with time as the silver oxidizes. Drawings in gold, brass, and other soft metals can also be used. Many artists do, though I prefer the subtlety of an image made of silver.
