Silverpoint

Value from spacing

Four swatches of identical line weight whose spacing closes from wide to tight, producing four steps of valueSAME PENCIL AND PRESSURE · ONLY SPACING CHANGESvalue 2value 4value 6value 8Value by spacing is how an etcher thinks. Half-close your eyes: the lines disappear and only the tone remains.
FigureValue by spacing
FoundationLine + Mass

Value from spacing

The etcher's four swatches, and a cube in counted layers

Control value with spacing and layer count alone, the way an etcher must, and shade a cube that way.

Difficulty
Time
about 0.5 h
You draw with
HB with a sharp long point
Value by spacingTone from lineLight on form

Why this one

  • Unit 1 of the program: Instrument Control.
  • Four swatches and five boxes that read as clean value steps when squinted.
  • A cube whose planes are clearly different values made only of hatch layers.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood HB 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 Bristol
  • HB with a sharp long point

Watch first

All videos →

Four minutes that make every etching in this catalogue legible: ground, needle, acid, ink, wipe, press.

YouTube
Rembrandt's printmaking process: 17th-century etchingNorwich Castle Museum · Shows how a plate is bitten in stages for lighter and darker line, the origin of counted tone.Cross-hatching drawing techniques: pen, ink, pencilArt Prof · Cross-hatching taught as a value system, which is how the etchers used it.

The plan

4 stages · ~44 min
  1. 1

    Four swatches

    13 min

    Four boxes. Same pencil, same light pressure. Lines spaced wide in the first, closer in each box after, nearly touching in the fourth. Squint: four values, no lines.

    Four swatches of identical line weight whose spacing closes from wide to tight, producing four steps of valueSAME PENCIL AND PRESSURE · ONLY SPACING CHANGESvalue 2value 4value 6value 8Value by spacing is how an etcher thinks. Half-close your eyes: the lines disappear and only the tone remains.
    FigureSame line, four spacings, four values.
    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Five layers

    13 min

    Five boxes. Box one: paper. Box two: one layer of parallel hatch at forty-five. Box three: a second layer crossing at about one hundred and five. Box four: a third layer near horizontal. Box five: a fourth near vertical. Even spacing, constant weight. A clean five-step scale made entirely of line.

    The etcher's value scale: five steps from white paper to near-black made only with line, first parallel hatch, then a second layer crossing, then a third, then a fourthVALUE FROM LINE ONLY · HOW AN ETCHING THINKSpaperlight1 layerlight halftone2 layershalftone3 layersshadow4 layersdarkEach layer crosses the last at a new angle. Keep spacing even within a layer. Letthe line weight stay constant.Meryon, Cotman, Forrest: every shadow is counted in layers. This is the discipline the Line unit builds.
    FigureThe etcher's scale.
    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    The counted cube

    13 min

    Draw a cube, light from upper left. Top face: paper. Front face: one layer. Side face: two layers. Cast shadow: three layers. The inside of a small square hole cut in the front face: four layers. Squint. If it reads as a lit cube, you have just done what Cotman did to a church tower.

    Tower of the Church of Haute Allemagne near Caen, Cotman, 1822
    Cleveland Museum of Art

    Cotman, Tower of the Church of Haute Allemagne near Caen, 1822. etching.

    Cotman, Tower of the Church of Haute Allemagne. Count the layers on the shadow face and inside the belfry arches.

    The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of William C. Keough

    Checklist0 / 1
  4. 4

    Self-check

    5 min

    Tick each item honestly. If one is a no, the session is not finished; go back to that step.

    Checklist0 / 3

What it should look like

  • Four swatches and five boxes that read as clean value steps when squinted.
  • A cube whose planes are clearly different values made only of hatch layers.

Where it goes wrong

  • The spacing drifts wider as the hand tires. Fatigue. Short runs. Compare each new line's gap to the first one you drew.

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 ~30 min

Status

How did it go?

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