Souvenir of the Environs of Lake Nemi
Corot, Souvenir of the Environs of Lake Nemi, 1865. Oil on canvas.
Pins mark where to look before you draw.
The Art Institute of Chicago · Bequest of Florence S. McCormick
Souvenir of the Environs of Lake Nemi
Dark frame, light water, one arch
Painted in 1865 from memory of the Italian years: a dark mass of trees on the left, water catching the sky, a small bridge arch in the middle distance, a figure on the near bank. The late manner applied to an early subject. As a drawing study it is a framing-device problem with a bridge inside it.
In pencilCharcoal or soft graphite: lay the dark masses first, lift the water and sky, then place the arch and the figure last with a charcoal pencil.
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 2 h
- You draw with
- 4B, 6B graphite, willow charcoal optional
Why this one
- Framing device, lifted lights and a constructed arch, all on one small canvas.
- It shows how an old painter remembered a young draughtsman's subject.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Grafwood 4B, 6B 4B, 6B for the darks, on their sides for mass. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
- 2Willow charcoal, or until it arrives Pitt Matt 12B and 14B on their sides the matt grades are the closest graphite gets to willow. Slip sheet under the hand.
- 3Pitt Matt 14B, knife-sharpened stands in for the charcoal pencil: trunk, branch zig-zag, the one accent.
- 4Kneaded eraser (warm it) and the clean Mono Zero lift the lights out of the mass; the Mono Zero for sky holes and lit edges.
- 5Alpha sketchbook 9 x 6 draw at the book's size and keep the proportions; date the page.
In general, this study asks for
- Drawing pad or cheap newsprint
- Willow charcoal, medium
- Charcoal pencil
- Kneaded eraser
- Stump
- Workable fixative
Watch first
All videos →Value grouping and a dark foreground frame, in charcoal.
YouTube
How to create realistic water reflections with graphite pencilsPeonypaint · Vertical strokes, darker lights, horizontal breaks: the pond at Ville-d'Avray in method.
Ville d'Avray, Entrance to the Wood: Corot at the Scottish National GalleryNL Cultural · A single late Corot looked at slowly; watch for the three divisions of light and the lost edges.The plan
3 stages · ~90 min- 1
Notan
10 minThree-value thumbnail: dark frame, light water and sky, mid distance.
Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Masses and lifts
50 minSide of the stick: the whole left mass and the ground. Lift the water and the sky gap with the kneaded eraser. Lose the edge where the tree shadow meets the bank.
FigureDark frame, light centre. Checklist0 / 2 - 3
Arch, reflection, figure
30 minCharcoal pencil: the arch from its springing points, its reflection straight down in verticals a half-step lighter, the figure as a dark mark on the bank. Fix it.
FigureStraight down, a half-step off. Checklist0 / 3
What it should look like
- A dark frame around light water, with one small true arch and a figure to give it scale.
Where it goes wrong
- The frame rendered. It was in front. Flatten it to a mass.
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.
Status
How did it go?
Before this, ideally
