Silverpoint

A Byzantine column capital

Byzantine Column Capital, Ruskin, n.d.
Art Institute of Chicago

Ruskin, Byzantine Column Capital, n.d.. Pen and black ink, with brush and gray wash and white gouache, over traces of graphite, on cream wove paper.

Pins mark where to look before you draw.

The Art Institute of Chicago · Gift of Mrs. Chauncey McCormick

Master studyLine + Mass

A Byzantine column capital

One fragment, drawn until it is understood

A single carved capital, leaves and volutes, drawn close and whole with the shadow under every undercut. Ruskin's method in one sheet: not the building, not the facade, one capital, all the way to understanding.

Difficulty
Time
about 2 h
You draw with
H, HB, 2B graphite
Light on formA moulding in lightA smooth gradientLayering, not pressureCast shadows on buildings

Why this one

  • The fragment method: draw one thing completely before you draw a facade.
  • Carving as light and shadow on a curved surface.
  • Even, slow shading laid with a point: Ruskin's 'skin of tone'.

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 →

Squinting, value scales and why beginners under-read darks.

YouTube
How to draw realistic textures with pencils: brick and stone wallAsif Rasheed Art · Stone and brick texture; use it for the near courses only and let tone do the rest.

The plan

4 stages · ~110 min
  1. 1

    The block

    15 min

    H: the capital as a block, its top ellipse, its bottom circle, the overhang. Measure height against width.

    A string course moulding in section and in elevation under light from the upper left: a bright top fillet, a soft halftone on the curve, a dark underside and a cast shadow on the wall belowSECTIONlightwallELEVATION · WHAT YOU DRAWtop fillet: papercurve: halftoneunderside: 8cast shadow: 6A moulding is four horizontal bands of value. Get the bands right and the stoneturns.The darkest line on any building is the underside of a projecting course. Save your 8B for it.
    FigureA moulding is a profile in light.
    Checklist0 / 2
  2. 2

    The carving as masses

    35 min

    Leaves and volutes as simple masses on the block, each with a lit side and a shadow side. No veins, no edges yet.

    Light on a sphere and a cube from the upper left: highlight, light, halftone, core shadow, reflected light and cast shadow, labelledhighlightlighthalftone (the turn)core shadow (darkest on theform)reflected light (never aslight as the lit side)cast shadow (darkest at thecontact)top planelightestfront: halftoneside: shadowEvery building is cubes, every tree is spheres. Decide where the light is before the first mark.
    FigureOne light.
    Checklist0 / 2
  3. 3

    Ruskin's skin of tone

    50 min

    HB, then 2B, with a point: lay the shadow sides as a slow, even skin of fine lines, layer on layer, never pressing. The undercuts last, with the 2B. The lit tops stay paper.

    Two swatches of the same middle value: one made by pressing hard with a hard pencil, which grooves and shines, and one made by light layers of a soft pencilWRONG · 2H, PRESSED HARDgrooves, shines, cannot go darkerRIGHT · 2B, THREE LAYERSmatte, keeps tooth, can go darkerRule: reach a value with a softer pencil and lighter touch, never a harderpencil and more force.Pressure is a one-way door. Layers are reversible.
    FigureLayers, not pressure.
    Checklist0 / 3
  4. 4

    Compare

    10 min

    Note, date, box.

    Checklist0 / 2

What it should look like

  • A carved object you could pick up.
  • Tone with no visible pressure, only patience.
  • The darkest line under the deepest cut.

Where it goes wrong

  • Outlining every leaf. Carving looks like lines. Carving is light and shadow. Draw the shadow and the leaf appears.

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 ~120 min

Status

How did it go?

Up nextFortresses in the Tyrol

Before this, ideally

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