The Draughtsman's Contract

This past weekend I wished I was in Peter Greenaway's movie, The Draftsman's Contract(1982).

Mr. Thomas Neville, a cocksure young artist is contracted by Mrs. Herbert, the wife of a wealthy landowner, to produce a set of 12 drawings of her husband's estate.

Mrs. Herbert offers an unorthadox agreement:
'For which Thomas, I am willing to pay 8 pounds per drawing and to provide full board for Mr. Neville and his servant'.

The artist surveys the property.

Mr. Neville replies:
'The conditions of the agreement are my services as draftsman for 12 days for the manufacture of 12 drawings for the estate and gardens,'

Parks and outlying buildings of Mr. Herbert's property'.

Unfortunately for the itinerant artist the contract extends much further than either the purse or the sketchpad. The sketches themselves prove of an even greater significance than supposed in solving a murder mystery.

This weekend as I was sketching a scene in Cap Ferrat, south of France...

Wouldn't it be better to do it onsite?

Or this wedding church in Sauternes for an announcement I have to sketch. I would prefer to see it in the flesh.

A gelateria in Roma awaits my pencil and brush. I would adore to taste their gelato to get the true essence of the place.

Same situation here.

Several US Guerlain girls wanted their portraits in front of 68 Champs-Elysées 

The Paris Guerlain headquarters. Et voila!



Tosca insisted on sitting in front of the cafe Georges V on the Champs-Élysées.

Photo by Carla Carlson

Here's a well known artist composition trick demonstrated in The Draftsman's Contract which Carla explained in full in her blog post recently.

The law of 'The Golden Mean' is a grid divided always into 3rds helps create worthy compositions preferably with the center of interest in the middle right, like here or middle left.
NEVER smack in the middle.
Quelle disastre!

I have a viewfinder grid. You can easily DIY with a little frame + a bit of plastic. Then draw on the lines et voila! You're set to go. I have the same viewfinder grid set on my Canon S95 screen. Just go to Functions, find 'Custom Display' and then 'Grid Lines'.

Here you can see the draftsman's setup for plein aire painting.

The subject is lined up on the grid.

Then the grid is traced onto the paper and each area is filled in accordingly. You can see my strawberry on the cheesecake watercolor doesn't just happen to fall in that spot. OK it did, but I've practiced this so much it's been internalized. Try it. You'll like it. Watch The Draftsman's Contract trailer by director Peter Greenaway. If you want to send me or your hound to St. Tropez my bag is packed.