Silverpoint

Master copy II: Mass

A foliage mass against sky and a distant hill, labelled where its edge is hard, soft, and lostHARDcrisp against the bright skySOFTblurred where the form turnsLOSTsame value as the ground: the edge disappearsA drawing with only hard edges is a cut-out. Lose at least one edge on every form.
FigureHard, soft and lost edges
CapstoneLine + Mass

Master copy II: Mass

Corot's Bent Tree by the Water, in charcoal, in full

Make a complete copy of a late Corot charcoal, using the side of the stick, the stump and the eraser, in three divisions of light.

Difficulty
Time
about 1.5 h
You draw with
Willow charcoal, Charcoal pencil
Charcoal: the late Corot methodThe three divisions of lightBuilding a tree from massesBranch logicSky holesHard, soft and lost edgesWater as a mirror

Why this one

  • Unit 7 of the program: Capstone.
  • A charcoal landscape in three divisions of light, with a tree that grew and a distance that is air.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Willow charcoal, or until it arrives Pitt Matt 12B and 14B on their sides the matt grades are the closest graphite gets to willow. Slip sheet under the hand.
  2. 2Pitt Matt 14B, knife-sharpened stands in for the charcoal pencil: trunk, branch zig-zag, the one accent.
  3. 3Kneaded eraser (warm it) and the clean Mono Zero lift the lights out of the mass; the Mono Zero for sky holes and lit edges.
  4. 4Alpha sketchbook 9 x 6 too small for the capstone: use the largest sheet you own, or two facing pages.
In general, this study asks for
  • Drawing pad
  • Willow charcoal
  • Charcoal pencil
  • Kneaded and precision erasers
  • Stump
  • Fixative

Watch first

All videos →

Broad charcoal masses and lifted lights; the closest thing on YouTube to a late Corot being made.

YouTube
How to draw landscapes, trees, foliage: graphite pencil drawing tipsSmoothie77 · Clump construction and sky holes.Ville d'Avray, Entrance to the Wood: Corot at the Scottish National GalleryNL Cultural · A single late Corot looked at slowly; watch for the three divisions of light and the lost edges.

The plan

5 stages · ~105 min
  1. 1

    Plan (fifteen minutes)

    25 min

    Three divisions: name each zone's value range. The tree as clumps: count them. The trunk's path from the ground. Where the edges are hard (against sky), soft (where foliage turns) and lost (into the ground shadow). Thumbnail in three values.

    Bent Tree by the Water, Corot, 1860/70
    Art Institute of Chicago

    Corot, Bent Tree by the Water, 1860/70. Charcoal, with stumping and erasing, on cream wove paper, laid down on cream board.

    Corot, Bent Tree by the Water, 1860 to 1870, charcoal with stumping and erasing, 45 by 55 cm.

    The Art Institute of Chicago · Harold Joachim Birthday Fund, purchased with funds provided by the Alsdorf Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. William O. Hunt and Frank B. Hubachek

    Checklist0 / 1
  2. 2

    Masses (thirty minutes)

    25 min

    Side of the stick. The ground zone, the plain, the distance, each in its range. The canopy as one mass, then divided into clumps. The sky as paper. No lines yet.

    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    Trunk, lifts, edges (forty minutes)

    25 min

    Charcoal pencil: the trunk from the ground up, zig-zagging, diving into the clumps. Kneaded eraser: lit clump tops, three sky holes near the canopy edge, the pale distance. Stump: the lost edge where shadow meets ground, the soft far strip. Precision eraser: one sliver of light on the trunk's lit side.

    A foliage mass against sky and a distant hill, labelled where its edge is hard, soft, and lostHARDcrisp against the bright skySOFTblurred where the form turnsLOSTsame value as the ground: the edge disappearsA drawing with only hard edges is a cut-out. Lose at least one edge on every form.
    FigureHard, soft, lost: all three on one tree.
    Checklist0 / 1
  4. 4

    Finish (fifteen minutes)

    25 min

    The cow as a dark mass. Compare, squint, adjust the zones. Stop early rather than late. Fix outdoors. Box it next to your Large Tree copy from unit 3 and look at the two together.

    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 / 5

What it should look like

  • A charcoal landscape in three divisions of light, with a tree that grew and a distance that is air.

Where it goes wrong

  • Over-blended. The stump went everywhere. Only the lost edge and the far strip. Lift, do not smear.
  • Distance too dark. Zone discipline slipped. Lift it until it sits inside 1 to 3.

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 ~90 min

Status

How did it go?

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