I challenged myself to use an art supply I already had instead of buying something new, so I dug out the metalpoint kit I’ve rarely used. Metal needs a surface to grab onto, so I experimented with a Gessobord for the dove. It worked really well—a bit bumpy, but the darks were darker than I thought they’d be. In the end, though, I think it looks like a graphite drawing, and it didn’t capture the soft, dreamy quality of metalpoint drawings.

I tried a new surface for the Saw Whet Owl. It’s called Legion Art Coated Cover. I bought it through Acuity Papers, and I have to say, it’s the all-time best and most careful packaging I’ve seen. The 20 sheets (three different paper types) were wrapped, labeled, and boxed with cardboard buffers around the edges. Honestly, I marveled at the care taken the entire time I opened the package, and here I am writing about it days later.

This paper is silky smooth. It’s coated with clay. I really liked the end result, even though I know I’ll be stuck in the high key value range. It looks like metalpoint, and the shine is truly awesome.

I learned a lesson about the Legion paper, though. Erasing it will leave a smooth spot that will be nearly impossible to cover up. This shouldn’t have been a surprise because metalpoint is known for being difficult to erase. I hadn’t planned a background, but I added one after realizing that there was no way to fix a number of small erased areas in the white space surrounding the owl. Live and learn. The spots ended up creating interesting splotches in the branches and tree trunks.