Silverpoint

Figure library · 58 diagrams · page 7 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. Two-point perspective of a building corner: the near vertical edge is tallest, each face recedes to its own vanishing point far off the page on the eye-level lineto VP left,off the pageto VP right,off the pagenearest edge: tallest, darkestUse it when you see a corner. The two VPs are usually FAR apart, often both off thepaper. That is normal.If both VPs fit on your page, your building will look like a toy seen through a fish-eye lens.

    Two-point perspective

    two-point-perspective

    Two-point perspective →
  2. Estimating convergence when the vanishing point is off the page: measure the near and far heights, divide both into the same number of parts, and connect the matching marksnear edge, 4 partsfar edge, 4partswindow heads, string courses, sills: all sit on these linesSight the top edge and bottom edge with the pencil (the real angles). Everythingbetween is interpolated.You never need the vanishing point. You need two true edges and a ruler for the rest.

    Convergence without the vanishing point

    convergence-off-page

    Convergence without the vanishing point →
  3. Dividing a receding wall into equal bays with the diagonal method: a centre line is drawn to the vanishing point, and each new bay is found where a diagonal through the previous bay's midpoint crosses the far edgeDraw bay 1 by eye. Find its centre with an X. Run a line from the top of bay 1through the centre of its far edge: where it hits the base is bay 2's far edge.Equal in the world means shrinking on the page. Never measure receding bays with a ruler.

    Dividing bays in perspective

    dividing-bays

    Dividing bays in perspective →
  4. A round arch seen head-on as a semicircle, then seen obliquely as half an ellipse inside a foreshortened square, with the keystone staying at the top of the centre lineHEAD ONcentre on the springing lineOBLIQUE · SAME ARCHapex moves toward the near sidefar half is narrowerDraw the perspective square first, then fit the curve inside it. Never draw thecurve freehand from memory.Cotman's Rievaulx arches and Meryon's bridge are ellipses that know which square they live in.

    An arch in perspective

    arch-in-perspective

    An arch in perspective →
  5. The same old stone wall drawn with ruler-straight continuous lines, which looks like new concrete, and with Prout's broken wiry line, which looks like weathered stoneCONTINUOUS · READS AS NEWBROKEN · READS AS OLDLift the pencil mid-line. Let the line wobble, thicken, vanish and return. Suggesttwo stones per course, not twelve.Prout taught a generation that a broken line draws age. It is the most imitated trick in British architecturaldrawing.

    The broken line

    broken-line

    The broken line →
  6. The etcher's value scale: five steps from white paper to near-black made only with line, first parallel hatch, then a second layer crossing, then a third, then a fourthVALUE FROM LINE ONLY · HOW AN ETCHING THINKSpaperlight1 layerlight halftone2 layershalftone3 layersshadow4 layersdarkEach layer crosses the last at a new angle. Keep spacing even within a layer. Letthe line weight stay constant.Meryon, Cotman, Forrest: every shadow is counted in layers. This is the discipline the Line unit builds.

    Tone from line

    tone-from-line

    Tone from line →