Silverpoint

View of Narni

View of Narni, Corot, 1826
Art Institute of Chicago

Corot, View of Narni, 1826. Graphite on ivory laid paper.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · Gift of Dorothy Braude Edinburg to the Harry B. and Bessie K. Braude Memorial Collection

Master studyLineItaly in pencil · 1825 to 1828

View of Narni

The set-up for a famous painting

Narni, 1826. From this sheet and others like it Corot built the Bridge at Narni paintings that made his name at the Salon. The drawing is a survey: the river valley, the broken Roman bridge, the town above, each placed with the dry precision of a topographer. It is a lesson in the difference between a drawing made to be looked at and a drawing made to be used.

Difficulty
Time
about 2.5 h
You draw with
2H, H and HB graphite
Aerial perspectiveAn arch in perspectiveLine weightComparative measurementWater as a mirror

Why this one

  • It shows Corot gathering facts: this is what a working study looks like.
  • Water, architecture and distance are all on one sheet, so it is a rehearsal for everything later.
  • Comparing it with the finished painting (linked) teaches what a master keeps and what he throws away.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2H, H, HB 2H, H, HB for layout and line. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
  2. 2Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
  3. 3Alpha 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 smooth cartridge
  • 2H and H with long points
  • HB for accents
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sandpaper block

Watch first

All videos →

Five hills, five values, in graphite.

YouTube
The basics: sighting and measuring in drawingThe Drawing Database · Comparative measurement with a straight arm, demonstrated on a still life.Jean Baptiste Camille CorotRichard Green Gallery · A dealer's short introduction to the hand: Italy, Ville-d'Avray, the silvery late manner.

The plan

4 stages · ~130 min
  1. 1

    Three depths

    15 min

    Envelope the sheet as three horizontal depths: near bank, river and bridge, far town and hills. Decide the line weight for each before drawing: HB near, H middle, 2H far.

    Depth built from overlapping planes: five layers from foreground to sky, each overlapping the one behind, each lighter and softer, with sizes shrinking5 · sky4 · far hills3 · middle2 · near field1 · foregroundOverlap is the strongest depth cue there is. Make each plane clearly in front of thenext, then grade the values.Five planes is a landscape. Two is a backdrop.
    FigureNear, middle, far: each plane its own pressure.
    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    The bridge

    40 min

    Construct each arch inside its perspective square: springing points first, then the curve. The broken arch is the same geometry with its top missing. Keep the piers plumb.

    A round arch seen head-on as a semicircle, then seen obliquely as half an ellipse inside a foreshortened square, with the keystone staying at the top of the centre lineHEAD ONcentre on the springing lineOBLIQUE · SAME ARCHapex moves toward the near sidefar half is narrowerDraw the perspective square first, then fit the curve inside it. Never draw thecurve freehand from memory.Cotman's Rievaulx arches and Meryon's bridge are ellipses that know which square they live in.
    FigureSquare first, then curve.
    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Far town, near bank

    60 min

    The town and hills with the 2H at a whisper. Then the near bank with the HB: a few contour lines and one patch of hatch. The water: three or four horizontals, nothing more.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Compare with the painting

    15 min

    Open the Bridge at Narni painting (link below) beside your drawing. List three things he dropped between study and canvas. That list is a composition lesson.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A three-depth survey in three pressures, with a bridge whose arches you could prove with a compass.

Where it goes wrong

  • The far town drawn as dark as the bridge. One pressure for everything. Change pencil, not just intention: 2H for the distance.

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 ~150 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextView of a Hill Town with a Crucifix

Before this, ideally

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