Silverpoint

Plant Study

Plant Study, Bléry, 1857
Cleveland Museum of Art

Bléry, Plant Study, 1857. graphite.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance Fund

Master studyLine

Plant Study

A foreground drawn for its own sake: leaves, stems, flower heads, in graphite

An 1857 graphite drawing of a clump of wild plants, the kind Bléry put in the foreground of every etching. A study in looking: each leaf's shape, how it turns, where it overlaps, drawn with a hard point and no tone to hide behind.

Difficulty
Time
about 1.5 h
You draw with
2H, H, HB graphite
Negative shapesLine weightComparative measurementTexture lives at the edge

Why this one

  • The foreground as a subject in itself, so it stops being a scribble in your landscapes.
  • Overlap as the depth device: which leaf is in front.
  • Hard pencil, pale line, pure looking.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood 2H, H, HB 2H, H, HB for layout and line. 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 or smooth cartridge
  • 2H and H with long points
  • HB for accents
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sandpaper block

Watch first

All videos →

The negative-shape habit, which places Prout's pinnacles and Corot's branches.

YouTube
How to hold and control your pencilProko · Tripod and overhand grips, and drawing from the shoulder. Watch before Foundations session 1.

The plan

4 stages · ~90 min
  1. 1

    The clump's envelope

    10 min

    2H: the whole clump as one shape, the big leaves as simple shapes inside it. Measure the clump's height against its width.

    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 first.
    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Leaves, with overlap

    40 min

    H: each big leaf drawn as a shape with its turn; where leaves overlap, decide which is in front and stop the back one's line. Near edges a touch heavier.

    Negative shapes: the sky gaps between branches are drawn as shapes, which places the branches more accurately than drawing the branches themselvesTHE BRANCHES (POSITIVE)THE SKY BETWEEN (NEGATIVE)Your brain has a symbol for "branch" and it will draw the symbol. It has no symbolfor the gap. So it looks.Prout and Cotman placed every pinnacle by the shape of sky beside it. Draw the holes.
    FigureThe gaps between leaves are shapes too.
    Checklist0 / 3
  3. 3

    Stems, heads, fade

    30 min

    HB for the nearest stems, 2H for the flower heads so the drawing fades upward. Leave the sheet bare around the clump.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Compare

    10 min

    Note, date, box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A clump of plants you could identify.
  • Leaves that turn.
  • Pale lines, no tone.

Where it goes wrong

  • Symbol leaves. You drew the idea of a leaf. Each leaf has a specific shape and a turn. Look longer than you draw.

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?

Up nextTree and Rocks in the Forest of Fontainebleau

Before this, ideally

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