Landscape with Ruined Temple, Alexander Cozens
Brown ink and wash over graphite; roughly 12 x 16 inches (32 x 40 cm); in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art. Use the Zoom or Download links under the image on their site. Also available as a a zoomable image on Google Art Project and a downloadable file on Wikimedia Commons.
It could be that the middle ground and background are in the same ink as the foreground, just in a more diluted application, but I suspect this is actually two different inks, not an uncommon practice in 17th and 18th century ink drawings.
The difference in value in the three primary planes gives the image an appealing sense of depth, and the more subtle value gradations within each plane provide a sense of textural presence.
I love the texture of the hatching in the lighter or more dilute application of pen in the middle ground, and the way Cozens has used shadow across the right side of the foreground, suggesting even more depth in the form of unseen objects to the right of — or even behind — the viewer.
