Plumb, level and alignments
Plumb, level and alignments
What is over what, what is level with what
Find three alignments in a subject before drawing, and use them to place everything else.
- Master
- David Roberts
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 0.5 h
- You draw with
- 2H and HB
Why this one
- Unit 2 of the program: Seeing.
- A building and its surroundings where the alignments you found are visibly correct.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Grafwood 2H, HB 2H, HB for layout and line. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
- 2Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
- 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
- 2H and HB
- A view of a building with some things in front of it, or a photo
Watch first
All videos →Sighting angles with a pencil against level and plumb.
YouTube
The plan
4 stages · ~41 min- 1
Drop plumb lines
12 minHold the pencil truly vertical at arm's length (check it against a door frame first). Move it across the subject and read what lines up: the chimney is over the gate; the tree trunk is over the left window. Find two. Mark them on the page as faint vertical lines with the 2H.
FigureAlignments are free accuracy. Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Run level lines
12 minNow truly horizontal. The eave is level with the top of the far hedge; the window sills are level with the fence top. Find two. Mark them. You now have a faint grid of four lines across the page and every major element has a known position on it.
Checklist0 / 1 - 3
Draw into the grid
12 minDraw the subject using the grid: envelope first (sighted angles, measured proportions), then the main masses placed where the alignments say. Every few minutes, re-check one alignment. Look at the Roberts panorama: a whole city laid in on a few plumb and level lines.
Roberts, Constantinople, n.d.. Graphite, heightened with lead white, on tan wove paper.
David Roberts, Constantinople. Minarets, rooflines and the shore all placed against each other.
The Art Institute of Chicago · The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
Checklist0 / 1 - 4
Self-check
5 minTick 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
- A building and its surroundings where the alignments you found are visibly correct.
Where it goes wrong
- The pencil feels vertical but is not. Hands lean. Check against a door frame before each reading.
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?