Tammy, Translation, Silverpoint

I loved the silverpoint technique. I had never used it before and I think it is a wonderful drawing tool. I would love to teach an illustration class, both digitally and traditionally, and feel this technique would be a great, relatively inexpensive and easy introduction to etching but without the print making mess. Since you can't add value by smudging or pressing harder or using a softer pencil, this is a great way to learn how to add value merely by stippling or hatching. And in doing so, it makes you think more about the gradients rather than just drawing what you see. I certainly plan on going forward with this tool in my personal work, as well, and would like to play around with integrating it with my digital designs.