Saving Edward

One thing that happens with any type of metalpoint drawing is that the drawing fades.  For example, I gave my sister a drawing of a pear done in gold. It has faded out to be almost invisible.  That is because the metal interacts with the atmosphere, giving off particles.  Some metals fade faster than others, some, like aluminum, hardly fade.  I thought this was mainly apparent with gold, and I don't work in gold often.  However, when unpacking and checking some of my artwork, I found that some of my copperpoint drawings are fading.

Originally, metal was used for drawing before a painting was completed, being the original under-drawing of an oil or egg tempera painting. Some artists, but not many, work strictly in metal as a finished piece, and that was my position when I did many of my metal drawings.  But I don't want to lose Edward.  Edward is a character I have drawn a couple of times, and now he is fading.  I am going to paint him in oil over the copperpoint, and will do the same for some of my palest drawings.  Edward, fading, is on marbledust and rabbitskin glue on wood, and the surface the drawing is on can affect the fading effect.  "Chinese white" or Winsor and Newton Designer's Gouache in Zinc White give a surface that has slightly less fading.  Below is Edward, copperpoint:

and below are some other examples of copperpoint and fading:

Wait til you see these in color!

Update: I do love drawings in copperpoint, but I did have to save these from fading.  Below are "Edward" and "Best Face Forward" in their initial oil color layers:

I will be adding a few more layers of color before these are finished.

Update: July 31, 2017  Finished with "Edward" and "Best Face Forward" - copperpoint under oil under crayon, on wood. (c) laeom