Silverpoint

Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, Cotman, 1810
Cleveland Museum of Art

Cotman, Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire, 1810. etching.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance Fund

Master studyLine + Mass

Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire

Pointed arches, a view through, growth on top

1810, etching: the great pointed arches of Rievaulx seen obliquely, a view through them to the distance, foliage softening the broken top, cattle and a cart for scale. The archetype of the ruined-abbey picture and the structural reference for the capstone. Full master copy.

Difficulty
Time
about 3.5 h
You draw with
H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B graphite
Constructing a pointed archAn arch in perspectiveTone from lineMasonry coursingThe ruin's silhouetteThe framing device

Why this one

  • Pointed arches constructed in foreshortened openings.
  • The framing device in stone: dark jambs around a pale view.
  • Counted tone over a complete architectural structure.

From your kit

The whole kit →
  1. 1Grafwood H, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B H, HB for layout and line; 2B, 4B, 6B 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
  • Drawing pad or smooth cartridge
  • 2H and H with long points
  • HB for accents
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Sandpaper block
  • 2B, 4B, 6B

Watch first

All videos →

Timothy Wilcox on the Normandy tours and the Architectural Antiquities etchings. The architectural half of this course, explained by its curator.

YouTube
Cotman in Normandy at Dulwich Picture GalleryDulwich Picture Gallery · Ten minutes with the drawings on the wall. Watch how few values Cotman uses.Gothic archesTech Drawing for Carpentry and Joinery · Equilateral, lancet and drop arches constructed properly with a compass.How to sketch buildings and architecture: Greek ruinsPhil Davies Artist · A ruin blocked in from the envelope. Ink and wash, but the construction is identical in pencil.

The plan

4 stages · ~210 min
  1. 1

    Plan

    20 min

    Eye level from the cattle. Springing points and apex of each arch. Three-value thumbnail. Number the planes for hatch layers.

    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Structure

    60 min

    Envelope. Great arch constructed. Secondary arches. Skyline as negative shapes. Mouldings as bands. No shading.

    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Tone

    90 min

    Hatch to the numbers, layer by layer. Coursing broken; stones at edges and openings. Deepest darks under the arch heads. The view through stays almost untouched.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Finish

    40 min

    Cattle, cart, foliage masses. Lose an edge lower left. Box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A ruined abbey whose arches you could prove with a compass and whose view pulls the eye through.

Where it goes wrong

  • The view darkened by creeping hatch. Momentum. Lift it. It is the lightest thing on the page.

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 ~210 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextDryburgh Abbey

Before this, ideally

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