A New Method of Assisting the Invention in Drawing Original Compositions of Landscape, Plates 19-37
This album contains plates 19 to 37 from Cozens’s drawing manual "A New Method of Assisting the Invention in Drawing Original Compositions of Landscape" (1786), in which he presented a technique he called "blotting." To make a blot, the artist smudged ink onto paper to map out the basic structure of a landscape composition. The resulting shapes could then be refined into a sketch and were meant to be the starting point of a more finished drawing or painting. Cozens illustrated his theoretical discussion of blotting with forty-three plates depicting sixteen types of ink blots, twenty different skies as well as seven plates detailing the progression from blot to sketch and finished drawing.
The plates in this album depict all bar two of the skies, and, in this copy of the publication, are printed on thin tissue paper. Once an artist had worked out their composition, the skies could be traced and added to the drawing to complete the image and create varying effects of light and shade. The final plate in this album, no. 37, represents step one in the progression from blot to finished work. The skies are printed two plates per sheet and are titled as follows:
19. Streaky Clouds at the bottom of the Sky.
20. Half Cloud half plain, the Clouds darker than the plain or blue part & darker at the top than the bottom
21. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
22. Half cloud half plain, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over in the plain part, & once in the clouds.
23. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
24. Half cloud half plain, the lights of the clouds lighter, and the shades darker than the plain part and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint once over in the plain part, and twice in the clouds.
25. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
26. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
27. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
28. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice in the openings, and once in the clouds.
29. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
30. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the lights of the clouds lighter, & the shades darker than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint once over in the openings, and twice in the clouds.
31. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
32. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the bottom of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice in the openings, & once in the clouds.
33. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the top of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the bottom than the top. / The Tint twice in the openings, & once in the clouds.
34. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the bottom of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
35. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the top of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
36. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
37. A blot.
The plates in this album depict all bar two of the skies, and, in this copy of the publication, are printed on thin tissue paper. Once an artist had worked out their composition, the skies could be traced and added to the drawing to complete the image and create varying effects of light and shade. The final plate in this album, no. 37, represents step one in the progression from blot to finished work. The skies are printed two plates per sheet and are titled as follows:
19. Streaky Clouds at the bottom of the Sky.
20. Half Cloud half plain, the Clouds darker than the plain or blue part & darker at the top than the bottom
21. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
22. Half cloud half plain, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over in the plain part, & once in the clouds.
23. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
24. Half cloud half plain, the lights of the clouds lighter, and the shades darker than the plain part and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint once over in the plain part, and twice in the clouds.
25. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
26. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
27. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
28. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice in the openings, and once in the clouds.
29. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
30. All cloudy, except one large opening, with others smaller, the lights of the clouds lighter, & the shades darker than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint once over in the openings, and twice in the clouds.
31. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
32. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the bottom of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice in the openings, & once in the clouds.
33. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the top of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds lighter than the plain part, & darker at the bottom than the top. / The Tint twice in the openings, & once in the clouds.
34. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the bottom of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, and darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
35. All cloudy, except a narrow opening at the top of the sky, with others smaller, the clouds darker than the plain part, & darker at the top than the bottom. / The Tint twice over.
36. The same as the last, but darker at the bottom than the top.
37. A blot.
Artwork Details
- Title: A New Method of Assisting the Invention in Drawing Original Compositions of Landscape, Plates 19-37
- Artist: Alexander Cozens (British, Russia 1717–1786 London)
- Published in: London
- Date: 1786
- Medium: Etching, aquatint, mezzotint
- Dimensions: Cover: 15 1/4 × 10 7/8 in. (38.7 × 27.6 cm)
Interior pages: 15 in. × 10 1/8 in. (38.1 × 25.7 cm)
Prints vary in size - Classifications: Albums, Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1930
- Object Number: 30.49.1(3)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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