Silverpoint

The Apse of Notre-Dame, Paris

The Apse of Notre-Dame, Paris, Meryon, 1854
Art Institute of Chicago

Meryon, The Apse of Notre-Dame, Paris, 1854. Etching and drypoint ivory laid paper.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · Clarence Buckingham Collection

Master studyLine

The Apse of Notre-Dame, Paris

Counted tone across an entire city

1854, etching and drypoint: the east end of Notre-Dame across the Seine, a bridge with figures and a cart, ruled skies, reflections in verticals. The standard for tone built from line. Every value on the plate is a count; the deepest black touches bare paper exactly once.

Difficulty
Time
about 4 h
You draw with
H, HB, 2B graphite with sharp points
Tone from lineNegative shapesAn arch in perspectiveWater as a mirrorFocal hierarchy

Why this one

  • Tone from line at the highest level available in public domain.
  • Silhouette, eye level, reflections, counted hatch: the whole Line unit.

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. 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 →

Four minutes that make every etching in this catalogue legible: ground, needle, acid, ink, wipe, press.

YouTube
How Rembrandt made his prints: a demonstrationChristie's · Filmed at the Rembrandt House. The clearest view of drawing with a needle through ground, which is why etched line looks the way it does.Cross-hatching drawing techniques: pen, ink, pencilArt Prof · Cross-hatching taught as a value system, which is how the etchers used it.

The plan

4 stages · ~240 min
  1. 1

    Silhouette and eye level

    30 min

    Cathedral skyline as sky shapes. Eye level through the figures on the quay.

    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Bridge and structure

    60 min

    Arches in perspective squares. Quay, buildings, in H.

    Checklist0 / 1
  3. 3

    Counted tone

    120 min

    Number every plane. Sky in horizontals. Hatch layer by layer. Reflections vertical. The darkest black beside the lightest paper, once.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Audit

    30 min

    Squint until the lines vanish. Compare values. Box.

    Checklist0 / 1

What it should look like

  • A city etching in pencil whose every value is a count, with the cathedral's shape owning the sky.

Where it goes wrong

  • Values decided as you go. No numbers. Number every plane 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 ~240 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextThe Petit Pont

Before this, ideally

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