Review and Comparison: Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground versus Roberson Silverpoint Drawing Ground

Silverpoint (or metalpoint in general) is a somewhat rarely used art technique, therefore only a few companies offer ready-made art materials for this technique. In this article I am going to review and compare two ready-made silverpoint grounds: Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground versus C. Roberson & Co Silverpoint Drawing Ground. Both of these drawing grounds are acrylic based, but they use different abrasive powders, hence the differences between them are very pronounced.

Here is the comparison sheet so that you can see differences for yourself. You can see how different metals look on each of the grounds. “Al” stands for “Aluminum,” “Ag” is silver, “Pd” is palladium, “Pt” is platinum, “Au” is gold, “Ti” is titanium, “Nb” is Niobium. From top to bottom, first line is each of the metals separately. Second line is silver with each of the metals on top of it. Third line is aluminum with each of the other metals drawn on it. “Scraping” means that a scrape board nib was used to scratch off lines in the metalpoint ground (scratchboard is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white layer beneath, I like to use the same basic principle also for my metalpoint art). Erasing was done with just a regular eraser. Smudging is self explanatory—metals can get smudged on both of these grounds, whether you like this or not will depend on personal preferences. The round shape at the bottom is where I rubbed an aluminum powder directly into the drawing surface. The lower part of that is where I drew with an aluminum stylus on top of it.

The first image was a scan. Since scanning metalpoint art is tricky, here is a photo of the same test sheets. Notice that silver has already tarnished, because these test drawings were made some months ago.

And here is another photo, this time photographed at an angle. Notice that metals look a lot shinier on the Roberson silverpoint drawing ground. Now that I have explained how exactly I tested and compared both metalpoint drawing grounds, let’s get right into discussing their properties and analyzing the differences between them.

Ingredients

Both metalpoint grounds are acrylic based. Each of them has a different abrasive powder. Roberson drawing ground contains bone ash. Golden product, on the other hand, contains titanium dioxide. Note: “abrasive powder” is what creates a slightly toothy surface, which is why metal leaves a mark on your coated drawing surface. Roberson silverpoint drawing grounds are tinted with an additional pigment powder. Golden product is bright white due to titanium dioxide. Roberson comes in three different tints: beige, sanguine, and green. Roberson does not offer a white silverpoint drawing ground. Of course, you could add some titanium dioxide powder to Roberson’s “natural colored” ground to make it lighter. Or you can add any pigment powder to change the color of either Golden product or Roberson’s “natural” one. By the way, my test drawings are made with Roberson’s “natural” ground.

Tonal Values

Metalpoint drawings look a lot paler on Golden drawing ground. Most artists won’t like that. I don’t like that. I’d say that bone ash is a better abrasive than titanium dioxide. That being said, Golden ground has a smoother surface, it feels less textured, because the particle size of the abrasive powder in Golden product is smaller than in Roberson product. And the thing is, I actually prefer a smoother drawing surface that results from the abrasive powder having a smaller particle size. By the way, bone ash is much harder than titanium dioxide. Titanium and niobium are hard metals that leave a mark on Roberson ground, but they don’t leave a mark on the Golden product.

Erasing

Erasing with an ordinary eraser is possible on the Roberson ground. It won’t completely erase metal, but it will lighten it, thus leaving a little room for fixing mistakes. Erasing is not possible on the Golden ground. I know that looking at the scanned/photographed drawing you see that I managed to erase metal marks on the Golden ground, but it severely damaged the drawing surface. It became really ugly and messed up. My verdict is that I would never erase anything from the Golden ground, because it damages the drawing surface too much.

Scraping

If I draw hair or white animal whiskers on anything else where I need to create thin white lines, being able to scrape off my metalpoint ground in order to reveal the white surface underneath it is paramount. Scraping worked very well on the Golden ground. It didn’t work well on the Roberson ground.

Appearance of Various Metals

Here you have another test drawing with different metals and how they look on each of the grounds. Even besides the fact that everything looks paler on Golden ground, there are a few other differences. When a drawing is viewed at an angle, metals look richer and shinier on the Roberson ground. (Personally, I really like the shiny look.) On Golden ground all the metals look more or less grey at any angle, while on the Roberson ground their various hues are more prominent. For me silver and copper tarnished a bit on both grounds.

Price and Value

Roberson Silverpoint Drawing Ground is sold in 60 ml and 250 ml jars. Those cost £7.50 and £30.50 respectively.

Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground is sold in a 236 ml bottle and costs £14.10.

Here I’m listing the UK prices from shops where I purchased my own art supplies, because, well, that’s what I paid. Golden is an American art supply manufacturer, their products are cheaper in the USA. For example, at dickblick.com their product costs only $11.27. Roberson is a UK brand. All the retailers I found were also from the UK.

Incidentally, I do think that Roberson drawing ground is overpriced. A 60 ml jar isn’t going to last you for long. Mine is almost empty by now even though I only made a few test drawings. Then again, all branded art supplies are expensive.

Final Verdict: Which One Do I Recommend?

I don’t have a clear answer. Both products are different, and I can imagine artists liking one or the other based on personal preferences.

Things I like about Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground.

• It is cheaper.
• It is available in white (I prefer white metalpoint grounds).
• It works better with a scratchboard nib.
• It creates a smoother drawing surface due to the abrasive powder particles being smaller.

Things I like about Roberson Silverpoint Drawing Ground:

• Metals don’t look as pale on it.
• Metals look more colorful; they appear shiny when a drawing is viewed at an angle.
• Erasing with a regular eraser is possible.

Here’s the thing, if you have never made any metalpoint drawings, you don’t know whether the metalpoint technique fits your art style, and just want to try it out while keeping things simple, then any of these drawing grounds are convenient and easy to use. All you need to do is take the jar/bottle, shake it, take a regular paintbrush, apply the ground on a piece of paper, and you are ready to start drawing. The main benefit of these two products is exactly that—you buy a ready-made product that’s easy to use and hassle-free.

Which Metalpoint Ground Do I Use?

Neither of these two. You must have noticed that so far in this review I didn’t post a single picture of an actual metalpoint drawing. Instead there are only test sheets and charts. I did consider making some quick drawings with each of these grounds, but I concluded that I’m too lazy for that. I’m not interested in using any of these two products for my actual metalpoint art. For that I use my own homemade grounds.

Here’s one more test sheet. Besides Roberson and Golden silverpoint drawing grounds, everything else are my own mixes. An abrasive powder is mixed with Golden Airbrush Medium. You can use any acrylic medium for this purpose, other brands will work just as well, just keep in mind that you want something that is very fluid. Thick acrylic media and gels won’t work.

For this test I kept it simple. One part (by volume) abrasive powder is mixed with three parts acrylic medium. A single coat is applied to the paper. That’s it. For my actual metalpoint drawings I also add a tiny amount of titanium dioxide powder (it makes my metalpoint ground whiter). I also apply the ground in several coats.

Here’s how you make your own metalpoint ground. First, you have to choose some abrasive powder. Bone ash is a good option, because metals are the darkest on it. For marble dust you have to keep in mind that it is available in different particle sizes. Personally, I strongly prefer metalpoint grounds with a smaller particle size. Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide will work, but metals look pale on those two, so I don’t recommend it. Once you have your abrasive powder, mix it with some fluid acrylic medium. (Of course, instead of an acrylic medium you can also use rabbit skin glue or gum arabic). If you want to tint your ground, add some pigment powder.

You can get some abrasive powder either from Kremer Pigments (a Germany-based company) or from Natural Pigments (a USA-based company). Both of these companies also sell acrylic mediums, rabbit skin glue, gum arabic, and pigment powders.

Here’s the fun part. Kremer sells bone ash for €4.17 (100 grams) or €10.65 (1 kg). Natural Pigments sells bone ash for $7.50 (1 kg). One kilogram of some abrasive powder would last you a lifetime. Some fluid acrylic medium is also much less expensive than a ready-made silverpoint ground. Buying all the ingredients separately and mixing them together on your own saves a lot of money. It also allows you to make a silverpoint ground that exactly fits your preferences.

Finally, here’s an actual metalpoint drawing, it was drawn on my own handmade ground, which I like better than any of the commercially available ready-made ones. I used aluminum, palladium, and gold wires for this image.

The thing I love most about metalpoint art is how with the right ground a drawing will look shiny when viewed at an angle. Different metals each have a rich and amazing hue, and they can look absolutely stunning when combined together.

Where to Buy, aka Shopping Links

European online stores:

• Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground. Jackson’s (UK).
• Roberson Silverpoint Drawing Ground. L. Cornelissen & Son (UK).
• Bone Ash. Kremer Pigments (Germany).
• Golden High Flow Medium. Jackson’s (UK).
• Various pigment powders (for tinting your ground). Kremer Pigments (Germany).

American online stores:

• Golden Silverpoint/Drawing Ground. Blick.
• Bone Ash. Natural Pigments.
• Golden High Flow Medium. Blick.
• Various pigment powders (for tinting your ground). Natural Pigments.

Note: These are just regular links, no affiliates. I don’t care whether you click on them or no.

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Another note: A few days ago I sent an e-mail to Golden customer service. I asked them what abrasive they are using for their silverpoint drawing ground. I also mentioned that I’m making my own metalpoint grounds, so I asked which one of their acrylic mediums they recommend as a binder. I like the acrylic medium used in Golden Silverpoint Drawing Ground, so I was asking for something similar. Here’s the reply I got:

The closest thing to the binder used in our Silver Point Ground would be our High Flow Medium. And the “abrasive” used is Titanium Dioxide pigment… Keep in mind that any solids you add to the very thin High Flow Medium will tend to settle out pretty quickly, so we recommend having a mixing ball in the container.

I don’t have the High Flow Medium at home, so that’s something I’ll have to buy and try. Instead I have been using the Airbrush Medium in the past. I have been making my own paints for years, long before I got interested in metalpoint art, and I usually just mix my paint (or metalpoint ground) in the palette immediately before painting.

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The final note: Here you can find my tutorial about metalpoint styluses. And here you can see more of my metalpoint drawings.