Silverpoint

Figure library · 58 diagrams · page 8 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. Constructing an equilateral pointed arch: two arcs, each with its centre at the opposite springing point and a radius equal to the span, meeting at the apex; plus lancet and drop variantsEQUILATERAL ARCH · RADIUS = SPANspringing linecentre Bcentre Aapexr = spanVARIANTSlancet: r >spandrop: r <spanCompass on paper, thumb-and-pencil in the field. Mark the two centres, swing twoarcs, done.Melrose, Dryburgh, Rievaulx: once you can strike this arch you can draw any abbey in Britain.

    Constructing a pointed arch

    gothic-arch-construction

    Constructing a pointed arch →
  2. A semicircular Romanesque arch with its centre on the springing line, radiating voussoirs and a keystone, over an impost and a pierROUND ARCH · CENTRE ON THE SPRINGING LINEcentrekeystonevoussoirs radiate fromthe centreimpostEvery joint in the arch points at the centre. Draw three joints that do, and the eye believes the rest.

    The round arch

    romanesque-arch

    The round arch →
  3. A two-light Gothic window built from geometry: the main pointed arch, a central mullion, two smaller pointed heads, and a circle in the spandrel that becomes a quatrefoilTWO-LIGHT WINDOW · CIRCLES AND ARCScircle in the spandrelbecomes a quatrefoilsub-arches: half the spanmullionTracery is geometry you can reconstruct, not lace you must copy. Find the circles.Cotman's Cley Church: every window head is a compass construction drawn freehand.

    Tracery from circles

    tracery-basics

    Tracery from circles →
  4. A string course moulding in section and in elevation under light from the upper left: a bright top fillet, a soft halftone on the curve, a dark underside and a cast shadow on the wall belowSECTIONlightwallELEVATION · WHAT YOU DRAWtop fillet: papercurve: halftoneunderside: 8cast shadow: 6A moulding is four horizontal bands of value. Get the bands right and the stoneturns.The darkest line on any building is the underside of a projecting course. Save your 8B for it.

    A moulding in light

    moulding-and-shadow

    A moulding in light →
  5. Stone wall: on the left every stone is outlined and the wall looks like a net; on the right only the courses run through, a few stones are suggested near the edges and the eye, and tone carries the restWRONG · EVERY STONE DRAWNRIGHT · COURSES, STONES SUGGESTEDDraw the horizontal courses as broken lines. Add vertical joints only near openings,corners and the bottom. Let tone do the middle.Cotman's Haute Allemagne tower: hundreds of stones implied, perhaps forty actually drawn.

    Masonry coursing

    masonry-coursing

    Masonry coursing →
  6. A pitched slate roof in perspective: rows converge toward the vanishing point, the near rows show individual slates and the far rows dissolve into tonenear eave: slatesdrawnridge: tone onlyA roof is a tilted plane: light if it faces the sky, with its texture fading as itrecedes.Count your drawn slates. More than two rows is a texture, more than four is a mistake.

    Roof slates

    roof-slates

    Roof planes and slates →