Silverpoint

12 studies · about 28 hours · 5 weeks at 20 min a day

The etching revival

Whistler, Haden, Lalanne, Legros, Cameron and Bone: the line Forrest learned from, copied in graphite from the Thames to the Royal Mile. Line as tone, finish in the middle, and a doorway as the darkest dark.
  1. 1
    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.

    Foundation · Meryon

    Tone from line

    A doorway in counted layers

  2. 2
    Sawley Abbey

    Master study · Seymour Haden

    Sawley Abbey

    A ruin the size of a thumb in a sheet of sky and field

  3. 3
    Kidwelly Castle

    Master study · Seymour Haden

    Kidwelly Castle

    A castle on its hill, a river under it, drawn from nature in an afternoon

  4. 4
    Old Battersea Bridge

    Master study · Whistler

    Old Battersea Bridge

    A timber bridge drawn in full, a river drawn in fragments

  5. 5
    St. James's Street

    Master study · Whistler

    St James's Street

    A street in one-point, finished where the eye goes and fading everywhere else

  6. 6
    Demolition of Old Houses in Paris

    Master study · Lalanne

    Demolition of Old Houses in Paris

    Party walls, rubble and a city block as three planes

  7. 7
    A Street in Rouen

    Master study · Lalanne

    A Street in Rouen

    Timber houses, a spire, and a crowd on the eye level

  8. 8
    Ruins of a Monastery

    Master study · Legros

    Ruins of a Monastery

    A ruined wall, an arch of pure paper, and trees drawn in long lines

  9. 9
    The Palace Doorway, plate 22 from the North Italian Set

    Master study · D. Y. Cameron

    The Palace Doorway, Venice

    A facade as two masses of dark and one plane of light

  10. 10
    John Knox's House

    Master study · D. Y. Cameron

    John Knox's House

    The Royal Mile's timber gallery, drawn as Forrest's teacher would

  11. 11
    Liverpool Cathedral

    Master study · Muirhead Bone

    Liverpool Cathedral under scaffolding

    A cathedral being built, in pencil, with most of the sheet left bare

  12. 12
    Old College Wynd, Edinburgh

    Master study · Forrest

    Old College Wynd, Edinburgh

    A close in one-point perspective