Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Pennell, Ponte Vecchio, Florence, 1883. Etching on cream laid paper.
Pins mark where to look before you draw.
The Art Institute of Chicago · The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection
Ponte Vecchio, Florence
Stacked windows shrinking along a bridge
1883, etching: the houses stacked on the Ponte Vecchio, their windows shrinking along the span at a constructed rate, the arches below, reflections in the Arno. The dividing-bays lesson at its most visible, and a window-as-void lesson repeated fifty times.
- Master
- Joseph Pennell
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 3 h
- You draw with
- H, HB, 2B graphite
Why this one
- Windows that shrink by construction, not by guess.
- Every window a void with a lit sill.
From your kit
The whole kit →- 1Grafwood H, HB, 2B H, HB for layout and line; 2B for the darks. Long points from the Blackwing on everything up to B.
- 2Kneaded eraser and the Mono Zero press-and-lift corrections only; the Mono Zero for a single sharp light.
- 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 →Longer, covers dividing bays and off-page vanishing points.
YouTube
The plan
4 stages · ~180 min- 1
Convergence
25 minTop and bottom of the house row sighted; verticals divided; convergence lines.
Checklist0 / 1 - 2
Bays and windows
80 minBays by the diagonal; each window a void with reveal and sill.
Checklist0 / 2 - 3
Arches and water
60 minArches in squares; reflections vertical with breaks.
Checklist0 / 1 - 4
Audit
15 minSquint. Box.
Checklist0 / 1
What it should look like
- A bridge of houses whose windows get smaller at a rate you believe.
Where it goes wrong
- Equal windows. Ruler. Diagonal.
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.
Status
How did it go?
Before this, ideally
