Leonardo da Vinci's Drawing Materials | How did Leonardo draw?

In this short film, conservator Alan Donnithorne explores the materials that Leonardo da Vinci used to produce his magnificent drawings. Using examples from the holdings of the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, the film looks at how Leonardo achieved the full range of effects, tailoring his materials to particular types of drawing. This film explores the remarkable drawing techniques used by Leonardo da Vinci and reveals how his most intricate works were created with the simplest of materials. Leonardo produced hundreds of drawings over his lifetime, many of extraordinary beauty, subtlety and technical precision. Understanding the tools and methods he relied on brings us closer to his creative mind. The film begins with silverpoint, one of the earliest mediums Leonardo would have learned. Because silver cannot mark plain wood or paper, artists prepared their surfaces with a mixture of bone ash and saliva, creating an abrasive coating that would take the delicate strokes of a silver stylus. The process of grinding pigments, adding glue, and brushing this ground onto paper is demonstrated, showing how Leonardo achieved such precise and permanent lines. We then look at how paper itself was made during the Renaissance, from rags beaten to pulp and formed using moulds dipped into vats of fibre. From there, the focus shifts to Leonardo’s quill pens, crafted from hardened goose feathers. The film shows how the membrane is scraped away, the nib cut and shaped, and a small inner groove created to guide the ink. Leonardo’s ink, made from oak gall, gum arabic and iron sulphate, allowed him to produce both the finest delineations in his anatomical studies and the looser, exploratory strokes he used when developing ideas. The film also examines his use of natural red and black chalk, materials rich in iron and carbon. These chalks offered a freer, softer quality of line, ideal for figure studies and underdrawings. Black chalk in particular was essential for the bold structure beneath many of his ink drawings. Finally, the film turns to watercolours, which Leonardo employed frequently in his maps. Renaissance watercolours were made from ground pigments bound with gum arabic and stored in small containers—often mussel shells. Though simple, these paints were capable of producing subtle washes and luminous colour. Throughout the film, Leonardo’s constant experimentation with materials and techniques is presented as a window into his restless intellect and endless creativity. By reconstructing these historical processes, we gain a deeper understanding of how one of history’s greatest artists translated his imagination into enduring works on paper.