Silverpoint

Arleux-Palluel, The Bridge of Trysts

Arleux-Palluel, The Bridge of Trysts, Corot, 1871–72
Art Institute of Chicago

Corot, Arleux-Palluel, The Bridge of Trysts, 1871–72. Oil on canvas.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · Potter Palmer Collection

Master studyMassSouvenirs: the late paintings · 1850 to 1875

Arleux-Palluel, The Bridge of Trysts

A bridge, reflections, and a flat northern light

1871 to 1872, near Arras in the north: a small bridge over still water, trees on both banks, a grey sky. Flat light, narrow values, and a bridge whose arch and its reflection make a complete circle. A quiet value study with one piece of geometry inside it.

In pencilGraphite in a narrow value range (2 to 6), with the bridge arch constructed and its reflection completing the circle.

Difficulty
Time
about 1.5 h
You draw with
2B, 4B, 6B graphite
Water as a mirrorThe round archThe nine-step value scaleHard, soft and lost edges

Why this one

  • Narrow-range value control: the whole picture lives between 2 and 6.
  • The arch-plus-reflection circle is the water-mirror rule made visible.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2B, 4B, 6B 2B, 4B, 6B for the darks, on their sides for mass. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
  2. 2Pitt Matt 8B to 12B for the big tone passages: matt, so the dark mass reads as tone, not shine.
  3. 3Kneaded eraser (warm it) and the clean Mono Zero lift the lights out of the mass; the Mono Zero for sky holes and lit edges.
  4. 4Alpha sketchbook 9 x 6 draw at the book's size and keep the proportions; date the page.
In general, this study asks for
  • Copier paper and drawing pad
  • 2B, 4B, 6B on their sides
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Viewfinder cards
  • Phone set to greyscale

Watch first

All videos →

Vertical strokes, darker lights, horizontal breaks: the pond at Ville-d'Avray in method.

YouTube
Train your eyes to see valuesProko · Squinting, value scales and why beginners under-read darks.

The plan

3 stages · ~75 min
  1. 1

    Narrow the scale

    10 min

    Thumbnail using only values 2 to 6. No paper, no black.

    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Bridge and mirror

    50 min

    Construct the arch from its springing points. Mirror it straight down, a half-step lighter, in verticals. Trees as soft masses either side.

    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Audit

    15 min

    Squint: nothing should be paper-white or black. Box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A grey, calm picture in which a bridge and its reflection make one circle.

Where it goes wrong

  • Sky left as paper. Default. A feather layer of 2B over the whole sky.

Log this session

Start the clock when you pick up the pencil. Stop it when you put it down. Log it. Every session counts toward the box.

00:00of ~90 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextPond at Ville-d'Avray

Before this, ideally

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