Silverpoint

Figure library · 58 diagrams · page 3 of 10

Every diagram in the program

The teaching figures on their own, large, in order. Each one links to the technique it illustrates. Useful pinned beside the board when you only need the picture.
  1. The nine-step value scale from white paper to the darkest dark, with a pencil suggestion for each stepTHE NINE-STEP SCALE1paper24H32H4HB5B62B74B86B98BLIGHTS 1 to 3HALFTONES 4 to 6DARKS 7 to 9Most of a Corot lives between 2 and 6. Most of an etching lives between 1, 5 and 8.Beginners use 1 to 4 and wonder why everything looks washed out. Reach 8 and 9 on purpose.

    The nine-step value scale

    value-scale-9

    The nine-step value scale →
  2. A smooth gradient built from overlapping circular scumble layers, compared with a streaky gradient made from single-direction strokesWRONG · BANDED, ONE DIRECTIONRIGHT · LAYERED, EACH PASS STARTS LATERlayer 1 covers all, layer 2 starts later, layer 3 later still...Change stroke direction between layers and the bands vanish. Blend with a stump only at the very end, if atall.

    A smooth gradient

    gradient-smooth

    A smooth gradient →
  3. The same landscape reduced to two values, three values and four values, showing that the design is readable at two and complete at four2 VALUESThe design. If thisfails, nothing saves it.3 VALUESCorot's working number.4 VALUESFinished. More steps addpolish, not strength.Notan: the arrangement of light and dark, Japanese for "light-dark".Squint until the scene collapses to three flat shapes. Draw those first.Every lesson in the Mass unit starts here.A drawing with a good two-value design and bad details beats one with perfect details and no design.

    Notan: two, three, four values

    notan-2-3-4

    Notan: two, three, four values →
  4. A foliage mass against sky and a distant hill, labelled where its edge is hard, soft, and lostHARDcrisp against the bright skySOFTblurred where the form turnsLOSTsame value as the ground: the edge disappearsA drawing with only hard edges is a cut-out. Lose at least one edge on every form.

    Hard, soft and lost edges

    edges-hard-soft-lost

    Hard, soft and lost edges →
  5. A scene with detail next to the same scene squinted, where detail vanishes and only three or four masses remainEYES OPEN · 100 THINGSSQUINTING · FOUR MASSESSquinting removes detail and halftones. What survives is the design. Draw whatsurvives.You will squint a thousand times in this program. It is the single most-used tool in landscape drawing.

    What squinting does

    squint-simulation

    Squinting →
  6. An even field of tone compared with a streaky one, with the stroke pattern that produces eachWRONG · ROWS AND HARD STOPSRIGHT · OVERLAPPED, FEATHEREDrows with gaps, pencil stopsdeadfeathered ends, each passoverlaps the last by halfLift the pencil as it leaves the paper, like a plane taking off. Hard stops make dark ends.

    An even field of tone

    flat-tone-field

    An even field of tone →