Sketching a Sail Under Load

Hold a square handkerchief by its upper corners. Ask someone to press gently against the centre while you watch the lower edge.

In the field notebook

Draw the outline once before the pressure and once after. Select three folds and follow each one toward a corner. Use the exercise to frame a question for a reconstruction photograph: which edges are held, and which lines suggest where the cloth is free to move?

Keep the handkerchief sketch separate from the ship drawing. One is a model for looking at the other.

Further reading at the Viking Ship Museum ↗