Toned Paper Drawings from the MET
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The above is a selection of drawings on toned paper from across the ages (actually just the 1500's through the 1800's) from the collection at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Note the way that the paper is often of a medium tone and that the artist pushes darker tones into the paper and sometimes applies a lighter value for the highlights. The page tone itself shines through. It was there at the start of the drawing and it remains to the end, unchanged. What has changed is the surrounding areas so that the default page tone takes on a charge and becomes dynamic and integral to the drawing. Sometimes, I've found, with student work, the tendency is to cover over all corners of the paper with drawing materials so that the pores of the paper become suffocated with graphite and charcoal. Toned paper drawings are important because they help us to leave some areas alone, to let the paper breath, to lighten our touch.
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