As we face the 6th mass extinction in earth's history, scientific illustration is going to be more and vital in recording species.  One species that has survived 100 million years is the Harvester ant.

"Young Harvester Ant" sketch  December 31, 2016 (c) laeom

A change of art - I have been very forlorn since the election.  I am an Independent, but have voted different ways over the years.  I was giving Mr. Trump a listen, but as the election drew closer, I felt he was against the true American Flag and Constitution.  Not just in a small way.  I couldn't speak about the election until recently.  I have made Quilts For Veterans in honor of my father's Service, and over the year or so of doing that, I gained a very deep understanding of the sacrifice so many have made to uphold our laws and respect our flag.  I do not believe Donald Trump understands what the people, men, women and children, at Fort Henry did when they held the flag up by hand, dying for our freedom.  His attitude and way of speaking down to all is unacceptable for the Office of President of The United States.  And I am angry.   Angry that I can't do anything but make a voice heard and remind people that many, many people have died so that we could be free.  My anger cannot get in the way of my life, so I am changing my art.

I am educated in horticulture, after/during/while being a fine artist for 39 years.  The University of Guelph in Canada is one of the finest for horticulture and agriculture.  But something from the past has kicked me in the pants.  An ant farm.  I saw them accidentally over the holidays.  And then I remembered being five or six and playing with the ants - picking them up, moving them a little ways down the road, bringing them back again.  I have drawn many animals, but was headed for flowers again, and so did not just jump up and say "ants!".

I did buy 3 ant farms. :) And I am hoping the ants survive the cold on the way here.  I am going to study three communities of ants.  They have been on earth since the time of the dinosaurs, they work cooperatively as a community for the good of the colony.  They can face problems together, solve them, without having a higher intelligence.  They are simple and effective, and true, and honest, and they save each other.  I can either scream about Donald Trump undermining the years that my father was in the Army, or I can study ants to see if they have a way to teach us to again work together instead of killing each other.  The planet is going to have major global environmental disasters - will only ants, crocodiles, snapping turtles, will only these really tough species survive, or will we as well?  What can I learn from ants that I wouldn't know otherwise?

I have stocked up on graphite for my mechanical pencils and will be drawing the ants, listening to them, saving some of them after they die, putting them under a microscope, and watching.  Watching to see how they not only work together peacefully, but actually thrive doing so.

Below are some tools that will be handy for my new direction:

I have a Nasco Stereoscopic Field Microscope.  It will be wonderful for studying the bodies of ants, shape, size, etc.  I have mechanical pencils for lead sizes 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm.  This give me a broad range for line thicknesses. I am not sure yet whether I will do life-size drawings in a sketchbook or individual life-size drawings kept in card protectors.

Below is a photo of two of my ant farms, waiting for the ants.  One is a sand farm, where the ants need to have food and water added, while the other is a gel farm, based on NASA experiments, the gel provides tunneling as well as food and water.  The third ant farm I will be setting up is another sand farm.

A very good video to watch on Leaf Cutter Ants (who don't eat the leaves by the way), is by the BBC at this link  Although this video is not available at BBC four, they do have some other ant information at this link

I may do a video of the ant farms I have going, but my focus will be on drawing the different aspects of their behavior.

More ant links:

NASA - Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert - 06: Ants in Space (CSI-06) - 11.22.16

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution - Collective search by ants in microgravity  (NASA results)

Wikipedia - Red Harvester Ant

Ant Web - Red List Species Imagery

Wired - Ants Moving Nests

The Ant Farm and Myrmecology Forum - Gel Recipe and Comments

AntBlog - How To Make An Ant Farm

Blog - Wild About Ants

To purchase ants online:

Insectkits.com

AntsAlive.com

Uncle Milton

I believe that our companion animals, or also in my case, my Service Dog, represent a reflection of our own Circle of Life.  As such, I think anyone should photograph their animal(s) for rememberences, but also if possible, should draw them.  Drawing their image, even if animals aren't a specialty for an artist, gives a fuller view of your own life.  My Miss Coco Bean is due for another portrait.  The oil pastel below is from 2011 or 2012.

It's best to take several photos to get the full view of the real shape of the animal's head or body, even if you then put your own "take" on that shape or make the image slightly abstract.  Coco is a dachshund / whippet - her mother was a full-bred dachshund, which can easily be seen in her face.  Her sire was a whippet, which is what her body looks like.  She is a one of a kind, and care is taken to make sure she doesn't end up with a portrait that looks like I stuck a dachshund head on a whippet.  I don't know where she gets the "Yoda" ears, but we love them.  Below are some photos of my other pets and their portraits:

Miss Sophie

Bugs Bunny - he always used to look at us sideways, watching everything we did.  He was one of my house rabbits.

Wilbur - my best buddie for a long time

Miss Moochie - once a stray, she wandered into our yard at the age of about 6 weeks, her stitches from being spayed falling out and dragging behind her - but I couldn't catch her.  She went on to claim our yard, chase the coyotes, literally, out of "her" yard, and when I was finally able to bring her in permanently, became the most loving couch potatoe ever.

Bailey - my son's dog

I did also do drawings of two other pets - Ceasar, my cat for 18 years, a pen drawing that I can't find (it would be over 30 years old), and Chico, one of my cockatiels - our best bud for many years, he traveled with us everywhere, including down to Virginia.

Ceasar

Chico, as a young bird

Without these guys, and the 50 or so other animals we have had over the years (fish, hamsters, parakeets, cockatiels, canaries, lovebirds, more rabbits) and of course Bailey, my son's dog, I would not have developed as an artist as I did - whether I was drawing them or not.  These are the animals from my adult life, I have not included those from my childhood, such as Polly, a beagle given to me when I was two by my grandmother, and who lived to be 16, and I was 18. Suzette and Cherie, our two poodles, Pumpkin the black lab, my brother's fish, Tom and Jerry, our two Weimeraners,.....

A fuller view of life indeed.

We cannot afford to go backwards on pollution and climate change.  While researching artistic information on heavy metals and metalpoint, came across what lead and leaded gasolines really did to us.  And our environment.  We cannot pretend ignorance or that we haven't already "been there, done that".  

Heavy Metals at Wikipedia

See paragraph 3 under toxicity

"Key No.3"  pewter (tin, copper, antimony) (c) laeom

I have just posted a new video:

Drawing A Metal Key - Graphite Vs. Metalpoint 

In it, I talk about depicting metal with either graphite or metalpoint.

I have recently posted a couple of new videos on YouTube:

First-   "Transferring A Repetitive Design to Paper or Board "

I use a photograph of my mother to demonstrate how to transfer a design.  Below is a sample of the design, worked in copperpoint and pewter. (This work is a derivative of a photograph taken by W.S.)

and the second video is  "Ink Stippling - Layering and Color 1"

One of the examples I use in that video is a stippled Knitting Doll, as shown below.

Today I made a small sample board of the different colors associated with the metals I use in metalpoint drawing.  From left to right below are: copper, aluminum, .9999% pure silver, pewter, 12k gold, and .925 % Sterling silver.

I dated the card so that as the metals oxidize and age, color differences over a specific period of time can be known.  I mention that because some metals, such as gold, fade over time, and a gold drawing I did 3 years ago has all but faded completely. It is also good to know what hues are reflected, what colors are reflected by each metal, especially if combining the different metals in one drawing.  The support I used is marbledust and rabbitskin glue on heavy illustration board.

Metalpoint - Page 3 - Drawing Styli or Implements

Basic drawing implements for working in metalpoint are easy to find, or if purchased, very economical to buy.  Metal points last through hundreds of drawings.  Probably any metal would work on the right surface, but the most common metals used are silver, gold, copper, platinum, and perhaps aluminum.

Below are some examples of drawing implements that I used from items I had in the house:

From left to right:  Two vintage Alvin lead holders.  Each holds size 2 mm leads.  One has copper wire in it, and one has aluminum armature wire in it.  Next is a crowquill pen holder with a thinner copper wire in it.  I taped it in place because the wire is much thinner than the hole for a pen nib.  Next, a vintage steel knitting needle.  In the small grouping of items there is a pewter rabbit, a gold heart pendant, a Sterling silver earring, and a brass bracelet.  The last is of course, the large silver spoon.  All of these may be used to draw with on a prepared surface.

Below are two more examples; Aluminum armature wire that I had for use in sculpture and a copper wire I originally had purchased for work with my bonsai trees.

As already stated on the paper preparation page, if you want to purchase a tip and holder, currently I have found two websites that offer silver tips:  Silverpoint.com and Natural Pigments. 

Shown below are jewelry wires that I purchased specifically for metalpoint work.  I purchased a foot of 99.9999 % pure Fine silver wire (12 gauge, about 2 mm thick), Sterling silver wire (Sterling is 99.925% silver with copper making up the most of the rest of the alloy) (19 gauge, about 0.9 mm thick for use in a standard mechanical pencil), and 12k gold-filled wire (18 gauge, also for use in a standard mechanical pencil).  Gold-filled wire is made up by bonding the gold around a core of another metal (brass in the wire I purchased).  That is different from gold-plated, which is applying a layer of gold electro-statically onto another metal core.  I'm not sure there would be a difference in the way these two gold wires act in metalpoint work, but I felt the gold-filled wire would eventually wear down to the brass, and I can just continue to use that as a point.

99.9999% pure silver wire (more pure than what is usually sold as "Fine" quality which is 99.999% pure

Gold-filled and Sterling silver wires

Below is a photo of how I made some simple holders to hold the jewelry wire or other thin wires.  Using a 1/8 inch dowel, cut to about pencil-length, I drilled a hole in the center of one end.  I then glued a piece of my wire into the hole.  I had all of these items available, but purchasing them would have cost mere pennies.  :)  To shape the point, I use an "Arkansas Stone" (in the grade "hard").  These stones are available for shaping or polishing pen nibs.  I followed up by polishing the point with wet / dry sandpaper in a 1000 grit grade (shown underneath the other items).

Here is a link you might find helpful if looking to purchase jewelry wire for use in metalpoint work:

Atlas Nova . com - supplier of 99.9999% pure silver wire (not 99.999%)

If you do an online image search for work done in metalpoint, you will find examples of older drawings that show the different colorizations of the oxidized metals used.  Goldpoint has obvious yellows and is very beautiful whether used alone in a drawing or as a highlight.

In other methods of drawing or painting, the tool used (paint, colored pencil, etc.) usually has color as part of its make-up.  It is the same with metalpoint, each metal will have both a tonal and color element that it imparts to the drawing.

From spoons to expensive pure gold, a wide range of metals is available for use in drawing.

A word of CAUTION - Metals are, well, metals.  Repeated use of them will have an effect on the body.  You may want to wear gloves, make sure you do not inhale metal dust when working or finishing points, etc.  One website mentioned above also sells a kit for what is called "colloidal silver" which is a liquid silver suspension.  I personally do not endorse its use.  Do your research! about any metal you plan on using long-term.  A disease that can result from silver exposure is shown here: Argyria

As with any natural pigment, mineral or metal, make sure you are aware of what you are using and its potential effects.

Metalpoint - Page 2 - Preparing The Paper

Preparing the paper or board:  If a surface is not prepared in some way, the metal will not leave a mark.  The preparation method is the one factor I am finding, as an experienced artist, that truly affects the outcome of the drawing.  Many websites or books say that an even coat of "Chinese White" watercolor or gouache paint is an acceptable preparation for the paper.  Chinese White paint or probably as well my favorite white watercolor paint, Winsor and Newton's Designer's Gouache, is made up of white pigment and gum arabic.  Gouache has other ingredients that to date, I have not been able to eeek out of the people at Winsor and Newton.  However, there are subtle differences in the reaction of the metal to the different paints. 

Paint made with zinc oxide as a pigment (Chinese White) will allow a faster darkening of areas as the initial lines are darker.  Titanium white, another white pigment in many paints, accepts an initial lighter mark from the metal, and therefore will also affect the execution of the drawing.  The graininess of the pigments is what creates the lightly abrasive surface that allows the metal to leave a mark, but the type of white used will affect the amount of metal left on the surface.  As well, there seems to be a slight chemical reaction in my use of copper on zinc white.  Initial lines in copper are more blue on zinc white, and less blue on titanium white.  I do not know yet if this difference will even out over time and the copper will actually oxidize to the same color.

My first inclination for long-term planning was to use a Clayboard ®- type product.  Clayboard is a commercially prepared clay-surfaced board that is a fairly good substitute for my own hand-prepared traditional gesso panels.  It is readily available, more convenient than preparing my own panels, and should have the abrasive-ness needed for metalpoint work.  My thinking was that my work in silverpoint would be closer to my painting of icons: on carefully prepared boards, with great care in the execution.  I am finding now that no matter what I use as a support for the drawings, it is not like painting icons, nor like ink work or watercolor.  It is specifically different.   As I experimented more with what I had already at hand, gouache on paper as a support is all I would really need to draw "correctly" with this medium. 

At hand, I had a traditional gesso mix, Titanium white gouache, Zinc white gouache, rabbit-skin glue and Titanium white raw pigment.

A note before I continue regarding the preparing of paper:  I am a very experienced pen and ink artist.  I expected to use the same techniques in metalpoint drawing as I do in any of my pen and ink methods.  I am finding, however that there are differences that may actually be called "complete" differences.  Similarities are hatching and cross hatching, direct line shading, and rotating the point in small circles to shade an area.   What may make these methods completely different from pen and ink is the way the prepared paper accepts the mark.  When a mark is made with ink, some ink absorbs into the surface, and it can be manipulated to some extent, either by adding more ink over it with more lines, erasing the surface ink, or burnishing the surface to change the way the ink is received by the paper. 

Metalpoint is different in that there is no absorption.  The line or mark that is made always sits on the surface of the prepared paper.  The atoms of the metal never penetrate the atoms of the paper surface.  Build-up of tone is then reliant on whether or not additional metal will stay on top of metal marks already made.  This fact means that great subtlety must be used when making each mark, each is a step to the next mark, more so than with ink.  I can't really even say that graphite is similar, although it is in a chemical-property sense.  Graphite seems to cling to itself in a different way, perhaps because of the chalks which make it up.

For those who are reading this page who want the fastest way to get started, here is what you need:  Chinese White opaque watercolor paint or gouache, a good quality watercolor paper (no student grade that is less than the quality of Cotman watercolor paper), and yes, the metal point.  My initial drawings are done in copper wire that I had in the house.  I rounded the tip with a whet-stone and sandpaper.  If you want to purchase a tip and holder, currently I have found two websites that offer silver tips: Silverpoint.com and Natural Pigments.  My experience with Natural Pigments is long, and they are a great company.  I recently contacted Silverpoint.com and plan on ordering from them soon.  

Preparing paper with Gouache or Chinese White

Prepare your paper by painting a clean, even wash of the paint over the surface.  I've been applying three or more thin coats, but two coats should suffice, painting first in one direction and then the second coat being applied in the other direction.  The paper should be treated as watercolor paper that is being moistened.  Tape the paper to a board before applying the paint, and let dry for 24 hours after all the paint is applied.  Paint that is applied too thickly will crack if the paper is not mounted to a rigid support such as a panel or board.

In the above photo you can see the initial application of gouache paint.  I have added a slight amount of yellow ochre dry pigment to the paint to tone the background areas of my paper.

Above, I have changed the tone of my paint to a pale grey-green.  You can clearly see the directions of my brush strokes in applying the paint.  Winsor and Newton Designer's Gouache paint dries almost completely without these lines, but I still apply the next coat in the opposite direction.  Note: the addition of too much pigment to the white will probably affect how the metal reacts to the surface, because it is the Zinc or Titanium white that you are marking on.  (For those used to making their own pigments or gesso, see below for using marble dust as an abrasive).

My papers above have five coats of paint on them, except for the top piece, which has four. I wanted to use up the paint I had mixed, and five coats should not affect my drawing.  The first four coats were applied as shown further above.  The fifth coat was "scumbled" on, to allow a more traditional look to the background surface.

Other surface options:

If you do some reading about metalpoint, you will find that originally it was used as a way to write or draw on sheep, goat, or calf skin for manuscripts.  I like to complete my finished fine art pen and ink pieces on calf or sheep skin, so I am familiar with the properties of working on it.  The layer of traditional size used in antiquity would have to be very evenly applied, and I believe would actually make the sheep skin less durable than if not treated with a preparation.  However the added surface is needed in order to make a mark.  They must have worked very carefully when this method was the "only" way it was done, and the finished pieces would be what I would describe as "delicate".

Then there is the method already described above, gouache or Chinese white paint applied to a good paper.  I personally like to mount this paper to a board, so that I do not have to worry about the paper bending, and the gouache paint subsequently cracking.

Preparing paper with Rabbit Skin Glue and Marble Dust

Another method is to use a traditional size specific to this use.  Generally this comprises rabbit-skin glue and white pigment.  Traditional gesso "should" do this.  I have traditional gesso that is a rabbit-skin glue, white chalk powder, and other ingredients  It is the best traditional gesso that I have found to work with for oil painting or egg tempera and I absolutely love it. It is made by Gamblin , and the product is wonderful, the label and instructions are great, but it will not accept a mark from metalpoint.  Hmmm.  My guess is that the addition of gypsum to its ingredients affects the way metal interacts with the surface.  One artist whose work I admire, Victor Koulbak, uses marble dust as a whiting agent.  Below you will see how I applied that to as paper, much in the same way as above for the gouache preparation.

Rabbit skin glue and marble dust:

 Ingredients used: Gamblin Rabbit Skin Glue, marble dust (available from Kremer Pigments or Natural Pigments or Dick Blick).  The glue has to be soaked overnight, and then warmed.  Follow the package directions for preparation of the glue.  Rabbit skin glue can be refrigerated for a short time, so if you make more than you need, put it in a clean glass jar and keep it in the fridge.  I would recommend using it within a week.

Ratio of marble dust to glue:  I used 2 ounces of warm rabbit skin glue (in liquid form) to 1/2 ounce of marble dust.  I made a test swatch before applying the preparation to my paper.

Below: the papers are taped to a board as shown above.

The glue and marble dust are mixed together with a brush.  The glue must remain warm and the mix needs to be stirred continually during application, as the heavier marble dust settles in the glue.  The more evenly the marble dust is applied, the better the surface.

Below is my test swatch.  On the upper half of the paper, you can barely see the first layer of application.  Very faintly on the bottom of the application are initial lines in copperpoint.

A couple of notes about applying any liquid to a paper surface:  use a good "wash" brush to minimize lines between strokes.  A lesser-weight paper will buckle more until it's dry, so taping it down is a must.  Below is a sheet of my favorite sketch book paper, Aquabee Super Deluxe paper.  It is lighter in weight than the Winsor and Newton 140 lb. hot press paper I use for finished pieces, and is buckling quite a bit as it dries.

Below is a photo of the Winsor and Newton 140 lb. hot press paper with the rabbit skin glue and marble dust preparation on it.  As it dries, the areas that are still damp show as darker areas.  Metal will not make a mark on damp paper, which is why it is best to let the paper dry for 24 hours.  What doesn't show up in the photo is that the marble dust has true sparkles to it, because of it chemical formation it has and it truly adds the the beauty of the paper, even before any drawing.

Paper preparation cost comparisons:

(Prices are found as of this date, February 1, 2010)

Chinese White (zinc white and gum arabic) opaque watercolor paint should be under $3.00 per tube.

Winsor and Newton Designer's Gouache  32ml tube  - approximately $15.00 (most economical if two coats are applied per sheet of paper).

Rabbit skin glue and marble dust:  Rabbit skin glue is approximately $15.00 per pound, and marble dust is approximately $3.00 per pound.  A pound of each would surface many drawings.

Golden Silverpoint / Drawing Ground: Approximately $12.00 per 8 ounce bottle.  They state that two coats are best per paper, one coat is sufficient in their product video.

Advantages and disadvantages:  Chinese White and Gouache paint preparations are the most convenient to apply.  Rabbit skin glue and marble dust, for me, is the "most professional" preparation,  as well as being very cost effective, but is not as convenient.  I haven't yet tried Golden's ground because it seems expensive to me, and 8 ounces wouldn't last very long for someone working exclusively in metalpoint.  However, it may be the preparation that combines professionalism and convenience overall, and if the aspect of expense is not a factor, may be the one ground anyone would need.  I plan to try it in the future.

Paper storage

There's a great, inexpensive way to store un-mounted papers that have been prepared with a liquid preparation.  I have found that even when taped to a board during application, papers will tend to bend when dry.  One method of keeping them flat was to place them in-between / under my many (heavy) botanical illustration books.  Then I was reminded that I have a flower press for pressing flowers.  This works by increasing pressure between two boards by the means of tightening two straps over a period of days. It effectively presses flowers perfectly flat, but also will hold papers flat until use.

Below is a photo of my flower press that I paid about $10.00 for many years ago.  A similar press could be made by hand very easily.  There are two pieces of plywood, and two straps that closes with Velcro® for tightening.  The flower press came with absorbent interleave papers for absorbing flower moisture, but I use wax paper to separate the individual prepared papers for metalpoint.