Silverpoint

The Back of Advocates Close

The Back of Advocates Close, Edinburgh, Forrest, c. 1908 to 1934
William Shannon Fine Art

Forrest, The Back of Advocates Close, Edinburgh, c. 1908 to 1934. etching, signed and titled in pencil.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

William Shannon Fine Art · Scan courtesy William Shannon Fine Art (originalscottishart.com). The etching is in the public domain (artist d. 1943).

Master studyLineThe Edinburgh closes · c. 1908 to 1934

The Back of Advocates Close

A timber-fronted tenement, straight up

A tall, narrow plate (12 by 20 centimetres) of the rear of Advocates Close off the Lawnmarket: a gabled tenement with a jettied timber front and an outside stair, chimney smoking, a figure at the foot. The subject is almost entirely vertical, so the problem is a tall format, a high eye level, and the value turn from the lit gable to the dark close below.

Difficulty
Time
about 2.5 h
You draw with
H, HB and 2B graphite, fine pen optional
Format and horizonA moulding in lightCast shadows on buildingsThe window as a voidTone from line

Why this one

  • A portrait-format architectural study: how to compose when the subject is taller than it is wide.
  • The jettied timber front is a plane-change lesson: each storey steps forward and casts a shadow below it.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood H, HB, 2B H, HB for layout and line; 2B for the darks. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
  2. 2Grafwood H for the lay-in; a fine pen if you have bought one, else a needle-pointed Grafwood F the pen studies are about the broken line, not the ink.
  3. 3Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
  4. 4Alpha 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 or smooth cartridge
  • 2H and H with long points
  • HB for accents
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sandpaper block

Watch first

All videos →

Structure first, then tone, on a real stone building. The method of the Architecture studies in a modern hand.

YouTube
Sketch like an architect: techniques and tips from a real project30X40 Design Workshop · Line weight hierarchy and when to stop, from an architect.How to draw architecture using two-point perspective, narratedCircle Line Art School · Applied to an old building with a tower.

The plan

4 stages · ~135 min
  1. 1

    Format and envelope

    15 min

    Turn the pad to portrait. Envelope the tenement as one tall shape; measure its height against its width. Eye level low (we look up).

    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Storeys as projecting bands

    40 min

    Each jettied storey as a horizontal band projecting beyond the one below. Under each, a dark shadow band. Windows as voids with reveals.

    A string course moulding in section and in elevation under light from the upper left: a bright top fillet, a soft halftone on the curve, a dark underside and a cast shadow on the wall belowSECTIONlightwallELEVATION · WHAT YOU DRAWtop fillet: papercurve: halftoneunderside: 8cast shadow: 6A moulding is four horizontal bands of value. Get the bands right and the stoneturns.The darkest line on any building is the underside of a projecting course. Save your 8B for it.
    FigureFour bands of value per projection.
    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Tone light to dark

    60 min

    Gable near paper. Timber front one to two layers. Under-projections three. The close at the bottom four. Smoke lifted from the sky with the eraser.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Figure and audit

    20 min

    Figure at the foot as a dark mark. Squint for the top-light, bottom-dark gradient. Box.

    Checklist0 / 1

What it should look like

  • A tall building that is bright at the sky and dark at the ground, with projections you can feel.

Where it goes wrong

  • Flat timber front. No shadow under the jetties. A dark band under each projection; the front steps forward.

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 ~150 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextBakehouse Close

Before this, ideally

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