The Pond at the Entrance of the Woods
Corot, The Pond at the Entrance of the Woods, c. 1860–75. oil on fabric.
Pins mark where to look before you draw.
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Bequest of William G. Mather
The Pond at the Entrance of the Woods
Evening: a dark frame around a gold sky
About 1860 to 1875: trees close the left and top, a pond catches an evening sky, a figure and animals on the bank. The framing device with the light centre at the bottom instead of the middle. A reminder that the frame can open anywhere.
In pencilGraphite or charcoal in three values: dark frame, light sky and water, mid bank.
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 1.5 h
- You draw with
- 2B, 4B, 6B graphite or charcoal
Why this one
- A framing device variant with the light low.
- Evening light order: sky and water the only lights.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 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.
- 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
- Copier paper and drawing pad
- 2B, 4B, 6B on their sides
- Kneaded eraser
- Viewfinder cards
- Phone set to greyscale
Watch first
All videos →Value grouping and a dark foreground frame, in charcoal.
YouTube
The plan
3 stages · ~80 min- 1
Ring and hole
10 minTwo-value thumbnail. Where is the hole?
Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Frame and light
50 minDark frame first, flat. Then the light as two touching shapes (sky, water). Bank as halftone between.
Checklist0 / 2 - 3
Figures, audit
20 minDark notes on the bank. Squint. Box.
Checklist0 / 1
What it should look like
- A dark ring with a gold hole at the bottom.
Where it goes wrong
- The frame detailed. It is in front. Flatten.
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
