Silverpoint

Format, horizon and the viewfinder

Format and horizon: a landscape format with a low horizon for a big sky, a landscape format with a high horizon for a big ground, and a portrait format for a tall subject; never the horizon in the centreLOW HORIZON · SKYHIGH HORIZON · GROUNDPORTRAIT · TALL SUBJECTCENTRED · CUT IN HALFDecide what the picture is ABOUT.Sky? Horizon low. Ground and buildings? Horizon high.One tall thing? Turn the paper.The first decision on every page is where the horizon goes. Make it before the first mark.
FigureFormat and horizon
FoundationLine + Mass

Format, horizon and the viewfinder

Deciding what the picture is about before the first mark

Choose format and horizon placement deliberately for three different subjects, using the viewfinder.

Difficulty
Time
about 0.5 h
You draw with
2B
Format and horizonThumbnailsEye level

Why this one

  • Unit 6 of the program: Composition.
  • Four thumbnails of one subject: sky picture, ground picture, tall picture, and the crossed-out centred one.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2B 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
  • Copier paper
  • 2B
  • Two L-shaped cards (the viewfinder)
  • A window view or three photos

Watch first

All videos →

Thumbnails as design, not sketches. Pairs with the viewfinder.

YouTube
One-point perspective street drawing, narrated for beginnersCircle Line Art School · A street in one point from a blank page. The Old College Wynd set-up.How to draw using 1-point perspectiveCircle Line Art School · The shortest clean explanation of the vanishing point.

The plan

4 stages · ~44 min
  1. 1

    Make the viewfinder

    13 min

    Cut two L shapes from card, each arm about six inches long and an inch wide. Held together they make any rectangle. Hold at arm's length and slide.

    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Three decisions

    13 min

    For a subject with a big sky: landscape format, horizon low, thumbnail. The same subject as a ground picture: horizon high, thumbnail. A tall element in it: portrait format, thumbnail. Each three values, three minutes. Notice how different the three pictures are from one spot.

    Format and horizon: a landscape format with a low horizon for a big sky, a landscape format with a high horizon for a big ground, and a portrait format for a tall subject; never the horizon in the centreLOW HORIZON · SKYHIGH HORIZON · GROUNDPORTRAIT · TALL SUBJECTCENTRED · CUT IN HALFDecide what the picture is ABOUT.Sky? Horizon low. Ground and buildings? Horizon high.One tall thing? Turn the paper.The first decision on every page is where the horizon goes. Make it before the first mark.
    FigureLow, high, tall. Never centred.
    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    The centred mistake

    13 min

    Make one thumbnail with the horizon dead centre. Look at it beside the others. It is cut in half and static. Cross it out. You will never do it again by accident.

    A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: On the Banks of the Marne below the Bridge at Charenton, Girtin, 1802
    Cleveland Museum of Art

    Girtin, A Selection of Twenty of the Most Picturesque Views in Paris: On the Banks of the Marne below the Bridge at Charenton, 1802. soft-ground etching with bistre wash.

    Girtin, from the Picturesque Views in Paris. A low horizon and a large quiet sky let the buildings carry the picture.

    The Cleveland Museum of Art · Dudley P. Allen Fund

    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 thumbnails of one subject: sky picture, ground picture, tall picture, and the crossed-out centred one.

Where it goes wrong

  • Always the pad's default orientation. Habit. Turn the pad. Decide with the viewfinder first.

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?

Up nextThumbnails and value grouping