A Rocky Hillside with Dead and Dying Trees
Adolphe Etienne Viollet-Le-Duc II
1848
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Adolphe Etienne Viollet-Le-Duc II
1848
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
A Rocky Hillside with Dead and Dying Trees is a 1848 ink by Adolphe Etienne Viollet-Le-Duc II, a Romanticism work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This sketch shows twisted trees clinging to a rocky hillside. The branches are jagged, some bare, others clumped with dead leaves. The lines are dark and uneven, like quick, rough strokes. Light areas peek through where the paper shows. The artist used lots of crisscrossed lines to shade the trees—this makes the shadows look textured. It’s not smooth; it feels urgent, like the trees are struggling. Next, check out cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows this way.
