The ruin
The ruin
A master copy of A Castle in Normandy, then the structure of Rievaulx
Draw a ruin as a stable mass with a broken skyline, mixed voids, suggested coursing and softening vegetation.
- Master
- John Sell Cotman
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 1.5 h
- You draw with
- 2H, HB, 2B, 4B
Why this one
- Unit 5 of the program: Architecture.
- A ruin whose skyline tells the story, whose voids differ, and whose stone is implied.
- A structural sketch of Rievaulx with constructed arches.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Grafwood 2H, HB, 2B, 4B 2H, HB for layout and line; 2B, 4B for the darks. 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, HB, 2B, 4B
- Kneaded eraser
Watch first
All videos →Line weight hierarchy and when to stop, from an architect.
YouTube
How Rembrandt made his prints: a demonstrationChristie's · Filmed at the Rembrandt House. The clearest view of drawing with a needle through ground, which is why etched line looks the way it does.
Line quality: cross-hatchingLZM Studio · On the quality of each individual line inside a hatch, which is what separates Meryon from a beginner.The plan
4 stages · ~80 min- 1
Read Cotman's castle
25 minThe keep is one stable mass with its top bitten off. The broken skyline is drawn with more care than anything else. Some openings show sky (light), some show interior (dark). The coursing is suggested, not enumerated. Firm pencil, parallel hatch on the shadow planes, the mound at left as a few contour lines.
Cotman, A Castle in Normandy, c. 1800–1842. graphite.
Cotman, A Castle in Normandy, graphite, 19 by 27 cm.
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Dudley P. Allen Fund
Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Copy it
25 minEnvelope at the sheet's proportion. Then the skyline, slowly, as negative shapes of sky. Then the big planes with their values. Then the voids, deciding each: sky or wall behind. Then courses, broken, with stones only at edges and openings. Vegetation last, as small dark masses softening the base. Forty-five minutes.
FigureStable mass, broken skyline, light and dark voids, growth. Checklist0 / 1 - 3
Rievaulx as structure
25 minNow Rievaulx, structure only, fifteen minutes: the great pointed arches constructed in their foreshortened openings (springing points, apex heights sighted), the view through them to the distance, the foliage on top as a mass. No tone beyond the three values. This is a sketch for the capstone.
Cotman, Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, 1810. etching.
Cotman, Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, 1810, etching.
The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance Fund
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 / 4
What it should look like
- A ruin whose skyline tells the story, whose voids differ, and whose stone is implied.
- A structural sketch of Rievaulx with constructed arches.
Where it goes wrong
- Every void the same dark. Not asking what is behind each. Decide: sky or wall. Mix them.
- The skyline rushed. It is just the top edge. It is the drawing. Redraw it as negative shapes, slowly.
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?