Silverpoint

7 studies · about 17 hours · 2 weeks at 20 min a day

The capstone

Two full master copies, your own fusion drawing, and the souvenir. Clear a weekend.
  1. 1
    Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

    Master study · Cotman

    Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

    Pointed arches, a view through, growth on top

  2. 2
    Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

    Capstone · Cotman

    Master copy I: Line

    Cotman's Rievaulx Abbey, in full

  3. 3
    Bent Tree by the Water

    Master study · Corot

    Bent Tree by the Water

    Three divisions of light, a cow, and a leaning trunk

  4. 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.

    Capstone · Corot

    Master copy II: Mass

    Corot's Bent Tree by the Water, in charcoal, in full

  5. 5
    Dryburgh Abbey

    Master study · Forrest

    Dryburgh Abbey

    A ruined arcade in trees

  6. 6
    Corot's three divisions of light: a landscape divided into foreground with the darkest darks and strongest contrast, a midground of halftones, and a background of pale, close valuesSKY · 1FAR · 2 to 3MID · 4 to 6NEAR · 6 to 9FAR: narrow, pale, softMID: medium rangeNEAR: full range, sharpestEach zone has its own quality of light. The far zone never borrows a dark from the near zone.

    Capstone · Corot

    Fusion: the abbey in morning air

    A Gothic ruin drawn with the draughtsman's accuracy, standing inside Corot's three divisions

  7. 7
    The souvenir method: look for three minutes, turn the back to the subject, draw from memory for ten, compare for one, repeatLOOK3 minSquint. Name the 3masses. Find thelightest and thedarkest.TURNBack to the subject.No peeking.DRAW10 minOnly what youremember. Massesfirst.COMPARE1 minTurn round. Say aloudwhat went wrong.Repeat three times. The third drawing is always the best, and it is yours.Corot titled his late landscapes Souvenir because they were drawn from memory.Memory keeps the masses and the mood and drops the clutter. That is what you want.The best filter for detail is forgetting it.

    Capstone · Corot

    The souvenir, and the review of the box

    Your fusion subject from memory, then every drawing on the floor