Silverpoint

View of Nemi

View of Nemi, Corot, 1843 or 1826
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Corot, View of Nemi, 1843 or 1826. Graphite.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Bequest of Grégoire Tarnopol, 1979, and Gift of Alexander Tarnopol, 1980

Master studyLineItaly in pencil · 1825 to 1828

View of Nemi

A lake town over the crater rim

Nemi sits on the lip of a volcanic crater above its lake. Corot's sheet (dated by the Met to 1843 or 1826, which is to say it could belong to either Italian trip) stacks the town along the horizon and lets the ground roll down toward you in a few soft contours. Lighter and quicker than Marino: a good second copy.

Difficulty
Time
about 1.5 h
You draw with
2H and H graphite
Negative shapesEnvelope, masses, detailSighting angles

Why this one

  • A simpler version of the Marino problem, for consolidating the envelope habit.
  • The town is a true skyline with a dome and towers: silhouette as negative shape.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2H, H 2H, H 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 →

The negative-shape habit, which places Prout's pinnacles and Corot's branches.

YouTube
The ultimate negative space drawing tutorialThe Portrait Guru · A longer drill on drawing the gaps.

The plan

3 stages · ~80 min
  1. 1

    Envelope and horizon

    10 min

    Rectangle, horizon line at the town's base (sight its height), the town's extent measured against the width.

    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Skyline by sky shapes

    40 min

    Draw the shapes of sky between the towers and the dome, shading each gap faintly with the side of the 2H if it helps. Then firm the building edges with the H.

    Negative shapes: the sky gaps between branches are drawn as shapes, which places the branches more accurately than drawing the branches themselvesTHE BRANCHES (POSITIVE)THE SKY BETWEEN (NEGATIVE)Your brain has a symbol for "branch" and it will draw the symbol. It has no symbolfor the gap. So it looks.Prout and Cotman placed every pinnacle by the shape of sky beside it. Draw the holes.
    FigureThe gaps place the towers.
    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    Ground and finish

    30 min

    The slope in long curves. Stop early. Compare, date, box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A town silhouette that reads at arm's length, over almost nothing.

Where it goes wrong

  • Towers drawn one by one and drifting apart. Positive drawing. Draw the sky between them first.

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 nextView of Nepi

Before this, ideally

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