Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Illustration Friday "Portrait"


This is done in silverpoint, on prepared paper and its a portrait of my Mom, who just turned 95 a month ago. She remembered the soldiers coming back to her little village after fighting in France, in WW1, that is. We have a long lived family, she has twin sisters who just turned 100. And her other sister, who has since passed away, was born in 1900, and remembered reading in the newspaper about the sinking of the Titanic.

15 comments:

Jeope said...

Eerie, but very cool. I'm drawing a blank though: how does silverpoint work?

Anonymous said...

Wow! This reminds me of all of those wonderful sketches and studies that the great masters did in preparation for their paintings. Nice work!

Christine Walker said...

Jeope,
Silver point is drawn with a slim silver wire that is held in a stylus. The paper is coated with something like a casein paint, or chinese white water color so that the silver wire will leave a mark when you use it. It's the same principle as using a silver coin to mark on a painted surface.

Unknown said...

Love your artworks and photos!! Beautiful stuffs!

Susan Mitchell said...

This is so delicate and finely drawn - beautiful!

JO said...

Beautiful drawing, lovely story.

georg said...

Very nice old lady - and think, how much world has changed in her life... I do like your drawing very much, she looks so thoughtfull.

Debra Cooper said...

Christine, this is beautiful. I thingk you've captured the look and feel of the old masters with such delicate lines.

Anonymous said...

I'm unfamiliar with silerpoint, but this image is really cool, i think i'll go look it up.

You can see the history in her face.

Christine Walker said...

georg,
She remembers seeing her first plane.....ever. And oranges were a rare treat only given at Christmas. Much different than anything today.

FoodChiCa said...

I love this portrait! Those memories are so precious!!

Christine Walker said...

Krista,
Its the first "pencil" technique around. If you want to try it without much investment, paint a piece of mat board with acrylic gesso, and grab a silver coin and make some marks. If you want to do more, your local craft/hobby place should have thin silver wire and a stylus to put it in. You can sharpen the wire to a point on an emery board to make a very fine line.

Cathy said...

This is stunning work, Christine - and thanks for the kind comments you left on MY blog. I'd have been back to you sooner, but I think Blogger have had some technical difficulties recently and I hadn't been able to!

All the best xxx

Willie Baronet said...

What a wonderful portrait. Wow.

Anonymous said...

Lovely work Christine, lovely!

Its Spring!

I found these in a garden center, nestled in the Astilbe.