Silverpoint

Rath Haus, Ulm

Rath Haus, Ulm, from Facsimiles of Sketches made in Flanders and Germany, Prout, 1833
Art Institute of Chicago

Prout, Rath Haus, Ulm, from Facsimiles of Sketches made in Flanders and Germany, 1833. Lithograph in black on grayish-ivory chine, laid down on ivory wove paper.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection

Master studyLine

Rath Haus, Ulm

A town hall, a square, and figures as rulers

From Prout's Facsimiles of Sketches made in Flanders and Germany (1833): the Gothic town hall of Ulm with its steep roofs and oriel, a fountain in the square, market figures, a street receding at the right. Two-point faces, bays constructed, the broken line on every edge, and figures whose heads all sit on the eye level. The most demanding architectural study in the catalogue short of the capstones.

Difficulty
Time
about 4 h
You draw with
H, HB, 2B graphite
Two-point perspectiveDividing bays in perspectiveThe broken lineFigures for scaleRoof planes and slatesNegative shapes

Why this one

  • Everything in the Architecture unit on one plate: two-point, bays, roofs, windows, broken line, figures.
  • Prout's figures are the clearest demonstration of heads-on-the-eye-level.

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 →

Longer, covers dividing bays and off-page vanishing points.

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

The plan

4 stages · ~240 min
  1. 1

    Eye level and envelope

    25 min

    Eye level through the figures' heads. Envelope the Rathaus; sight its two top slopes.

    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    Bays and roofs

    70 min

    Divide the near edge into storeys; connect; bays by the diagonal. Roof planes light, tile rows converging, slates only at the eaves.

    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Broken line and tone

    90 min

    Every edge broken. Windows as voids. Shadow faces two layers, under the eaves three.

    Checklist0 / 2
  4. 4

    Figures and audit

    55 min

    Eight figures as dots, strokes and shoulders, heads on the line. Fountain as a vertical. Squint. Box.

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What it should look like

  • A Gothic town hall that is old, true, and the right size because of the people in front of it.

Where it goes wrong

  • Figures with faces. They became people. Dot, stroke, shoulder.

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 nextCanongate Tolbooth

Before this, ideally

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