The Rhythm of Overlapping Planks

Take three strips of thin card and lay their edges over one another. Tilt the assembly toward a lamp to bring the seams into relief.

In the field notebook

Look along the strips from one end. Draw only the narrow shadows, leaving the card itself white. In a clinker-built hull those repeated edges let the eye follow the planking even when the colour of the timber is nearly uniform.

Move the lamp to the opposite side and draw again. The same construction can look very different under different light.

Further reading at the Viking Ship Museum ↗