Silverpoint

Envelope, masses, detail

Blocking in: a church is first enclosed in a simple envelope of five straight lines, then subdivided into big masses, and only then given its details1 · ENVELOPE2 · BIG MASSES3 · DETAIL LASTSpend half your time on stage one. If the envelope is right, nothing after it can gobadly wrong.Beginners start at the window. Masters start at the envelope.
FigureEnvelope, masses, detail
FoundationLine + Mass

Envelope, masses, detail

A simple building in three stages, half the time on the first

Draw a simple building by enclosing it, dividing it, and detailing it last, using every seeing tool so far.

Difficulty
Time
about 1 h
You draw with
2H, HB, 2B
Envelope, masses, detailSighting anglesComparative measurementPlumb and level

Why this one

  • Unit 2 of the program: Seeing.
  • A building whose overall shape and proportions are right, with the detail clearly subordinate.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2H, HB, 2B 2H, HB for layout and line; 2B for the darks. 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
  • 2H, HB, 2B
  • A photo of a simple building: shed, barn, small church, cottage

Watch first

All videos →

Sighting angles with a pencil against level and plumb.

YouTube
The basics: sighting and measuring in drawingThe Drawing Database · Comparative measurement with a straight arm, demonstrated on a still life.Practice simplifying values with notan studiesProko · Two- and three-value notan, the exact exercise the Mass studies start with.

The plan

5 stages · ~57 min
  1. 1

    The envelope (fifteen minutes)

    13 min

    With the 2H, enclose the whole building in five or six straight lines. Sight each angle. Measure the envelope's height against its width. Check two alignments. Adjust until it is right. Do not move on until it is right; this is where half your time goes.

    Blocking in: a church is first enclosed in a simple envelope of five straight lines, then subdivided into big masses, and only then given its details1 · ENVELOPE2 · BIG MASSES3 · DETAIL LASTSpend half your time on stage one. If the envelope is right, nothing after it can gobadly wrong.Beginners start at the window. Masters start at the envelope.
    FigureEnvelope, masses, detail.
    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    The masses (ten minutes)

    13 min

    Divide the envelope into the main shapes: the roof plane, the wall, the gable, the big dark of the door. Still straight lines and simple curves. Still 2H. Sight and measure each division against the envelope.

    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    The detail (ten minutes, no more)

    13 min

    Switch to HB. Windows, the door, the chimney, a suggestion of roof texture at the eave. Stop after ten minutes whether or not you feel finished. Look at the Girtin sketch, which stopped after stage two and is complete.

    Warwick Castle, Girtin, n.d.
    Art Institute of Chicago

    Girtin, Warwick Castle, n.d.. Graphite on cream wove paper.

    Girtin, Warwick Castle (graphite). Envelope, masses, a hint of shadow, stop.

    The Art Institute of Chicago · The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection

    Checklist0 / 1
  4. 4

    Audit

    13 min

    Hold the drawing next to the photo at arm's length. Where is it wrong? Nearly always the answer is in the envelope: a proportion or an angle. Write the error on the sheet. That note is worth more than the drawing.

    Checklist0 / 1
  5. 5

    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

  • A building whose overall shape and proportions are right, with the detail clearly subordinate.

Where it goes wrong

  • Starting with the door because it is interesting. It ends up beautiful and in the wrong place. Start with the dullest thing: the outer edges.
  • Spending five minutes on the envelope and thirty on windows. Detail feels like progress. Set a timer. Fifteen minutes on the envelope, by the clock.

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 ~60 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextSketch for a Landscape (verso)