John Sell Cotman

Liber Studiorum: Plate 30, Bambro' Castle, Northumberland

1838 · softground etching, from a bound volume containing 48 plates · Sheet: 49.5 x 32 cm (19 1/2 x 12 5/8 in.); Platemark: 11.4 x 20 cm (4 1/2 x 7 7/8 in.)

Liber Studiorum: Plate 30, Bambro' Castle, Northumberland, Cotman, 1838
Cleveland Museum of Art

Cotman, Liber Studiorum: Plate 30, Bambro' Castle, Northumberland, 1838. softground etching, from a bound volume containing 48 plates.

The Cleveland Museum of Art · Bequest of John Bonebrake

How to look at a Cotman

  • Squint at a Cotman until it becomes a jigsaw of three values. Notice the pieces are large and few.
  • Follow the main arch at Rievaulx and find the two springing points. The curve is constructed, not guessed.
  • In the Normandy castle in graphite, count the stones actually drawn. Then notice where they are: edges, openings, near the ground.

Draw this

1 study of this work

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