Carol Jean Rogalski’s Silverpoint Workshop
By Christina Lovering
Saturday, September 27 2025
Silverpoint History and Techniques
Reed-Turner member, Carol Jean Rogalski, designed and led a workshop on the art of silverpoint in lieu of our September meeting on September 27, 2025.
This workshop was made possible by the Carole Schumacher fund.
Carol Jean created a beautiful program that outlined the history of silverpoint, how to best prepare surfaces for silverpoint, and finally a demonstration and time for her students to try silverpoint with an array of prepared surfaces.
Carol Jean's Silverpoint Test Sheet
For those unfamiliar with the medium, silverpoint is a technique in which the artist draws with a silver stylus on a prepared surface. Over time, the deposits of silver drawn onto the paper will oxidize and resemble a beautiful warm sepia tone. It was first utilized in the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, with such artists as Leonardo DaVinci, Holbein, and Durer making use of the technique. As graphite pencils and other media became more popular and easy to produce, it still held its own for some, and there are even contemporary artists who still use the technique today. Artists have loved silverpoint for its fine lines and beautiful patina over time, but does require some prep work.
Carol Jean's Silverpoint
Members of the workshop were given what many of us referred to as “our goodie bag” that Carol-Jean lovingly created to get us just what we needed to get started with this medium. This included: a fine piece of silver and a medium piece of silver, three pieces of prepared surfaces, a small piece of sandpaper to sharpen our points, as well as some hardware store paintchips- which were perfectly sized papers to test our materials on! She also created a handy bookmark that has important facts and tips about silverpoint, and a small print of one of her pieces. The only thing we needed to supply was a lead holder or silverpoint holder.
“The Goodie Bag”
Upon receiving our “goodie bags” we were eager to try our hand at silverpoint. Carol Jean encouraged us to bring subjects that lend themselves nicely to the medium such as feathers and shells; members also brought plants that are currently in bloom and other botanical interests. While there is somewhat of a learning curve to this medium in terms of building up dark tones and contrast, it is another drawing medium that many of us saw the beauty and potential in. Of course, like any good instructor, Carol Jean encouraged and expects to see our progress at the next meeting. It was a successful morning with lots of drawings to come from it!
Carol Jean Rogalsk Silverpoint
Christina Lovering seashell subject
Silverpoint Progress from Paint chip to prepared paper
Lisa Kanellos' silverpoint drawing