Castle on Shore
Girtin, Castle on Shore, n.d.. Graphite on cream wove paper.
The Art Institute of Chicago · The Leonora Hall Gurley Memorial Collection
Castle on Shore
Girtin: a plate copy from graphite
Castle on Shore: Graphite on cream wove paper, 11.1 × 17.8 cm (4 3/8 × 7 1/16 in.) (The Art Institute of Chicago). A plate copy: the standard protocol for graphite applied to this one sheet at the size of your book, with Girtin's own habits as the checklist. In the Paris views, count the values. There are rarely more than four.
- Master
- Thomas Girtin
- Difficulty
- Time
- about 2 h
- You draw with
- H, HB, 2B graphite
Why this one
- Breadth. Big shapes, few values, no fuss.
- Knowing when to stop: the sketch ends when the design is complete, not when the detail runs out.
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 the sketchbook
- 2H and H with long points
- HB and 2B for accents
- Kneaded eraser
- Precision eraser
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
Sketch like an architect: techniques and tips from a real project30X40 Design Workshop · Line weight hierarchy and when to stop, from an architect.
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
5 stages · ~100 min- 1
Read the plate first
5 minBefore any mark, look at Castle on Shore for five minutes with the pencil down. Find the eye level or the horizon. Find the lightest light and the darkest dark and notice whether they touch. Count the big shapes: it is rarely more than four. Say what the picture is about in one sentence.
Checklist0 / 3 - 2
Envelope and masses
15 minMeasure the sheet's proportion and draw the envelope lightly at the size you will work. Place the horizon as a fraction of the height. Block the three or four big shapes as pale outlines, checking each against the others with the pencil held at arm's length. No detail yet; if a line is inside a shape, it is too early.
TipBeginners rush this stage. Masters spend half the drawing here.
Checklist0 / 3 - 3
The line, once
40 minWith the H and then the HB, draw the contours over the envelope, each line once, from the shoulder. Follow the original's economy: where it stops drawing, you stop. Where its line breaks, break yours. Keep the sky and the lit planes as untouched paper.
Decide the three darkest accents before you make them, and make them with the 2B last.
Checklist0 / 3 - 4
Tone from line
30 minWhere the original has tone, build it as the original does: parallel lines whose spacing is the value, following the plane. Squint at both sheets together and match the three values, not the detail.
Checklist0 / 2 - 5
Compare and note
10 minSide by side with the original: where did you add what was not there? Where did you darken what was light? Write one sentence on the sheet about what to change next time. Date it. Box it.
Checklist0 / 2
What it should look like
- A pale, exact drawing with more paper than pencil.
- Lines that can be counted, each one meaning something.
- Three values, with the darks saved for the end.
Where it goes wrong
- Everything the same weight. A single pressure flattens the space. Three weights: ghost for construction, firm for contour, heavy for the three accents.
- Shading creeps in early. Tone is comforting and hides a bad contour. No tone until the line is finished and checked.
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?
