Gust of Wind
Corot, Gust of Wind, 1871. Transfer lithograph on tan China paper laid down on white wove paper.
Pins mark where to look before you draw.
The Art Institute of Chicago · William McCallin McKee Memorial Endowment
Gust of Wind
The whole drawing in one direction
1871: a tree thrown sideways by wind on a bare plain, a figure bent against it, clouds streaming. Simpler than The Isolated Fort and a better first lithograph copy: one tree, one direction, almost nothing else.
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 1.5 h
- You draw with
- 4B graphite on its side, charcoal pencil
Why this one
- The purest direction-of-stroke exercise in the catalogue.
- Quick, and good as a warm-up before the other lithographs.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Grafwood 4B 4B 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, medium tooth
- 2B, 4B, 6B with long points
- Kneaded eraser
- Precision eraser
- Slip sheet
Watch first
All videos →The drawing stage only: litho crayon on stone behaves like charcoal on toothed paper. That is why the Corot lithographs look like his fusains.
YouTube
The plan
3 stages · ~65 min- 1
Turn the paper
5 minRotate the pad so the wind's direction is your natural stroke.
Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Stream it
50 minTrunk as one resisting stroke. Then foliage, clouds and grass all streaming the same way with the side of the pencil. Figure last, bent into it.
Checklist0 / 1 - 3
Compare
10 minCompare, note, box.
Checklist0 / 1
What it should look like
- Wind.
Where it goes wrong
- Clouds drawn as puffs. Symbol. Clouds are streaks here. Same direction as the leaves.
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?
