When looking at John Singer Sargent’s “effortless” portraits, I often wonder how long he actually spent on each. He wanted the painting to look fresh, with an economy of brush strokes, so a painting that looks like it was done in one sitting could have taken many. He’s said to have scraped off hours, days even months worth of work because there was too much evidence of his struggle. Here’s a painting that Sargent did in a single hour. Aha. This is helpful.
“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.” – John Singer Sargent
This is a new online glossary of painting terms. More to come! Alkyd (“Call me Al, kid”) Oil Painting Alkyds are synthetic resin replacements for slow drying natural oils. When added to oil paint they speed up the drying time. Examples: Liquin, Galkyd, and many more. Some paints like Quick Dry White, Gamblin FastMatte, and W&N Griffin Paints …
Alice Neel: “My analyst said to me, ‘Why is it so important to be honest in art?’ I said, ‘It’s not so important, it’s just a privilege.’” – Quote provided by Suzanne Walker, BA, MA, PhD, BFD …From the upcoming lecture on Portraiture After Photography – part of our ongoing WTF Art History Lecture series with Suzanne Walker …
I’ve been talking about how to use hands as expressive elements within a drawing. I love this idea so much, both for technical practice and for powerful personal expression, that I made a class to study expressive hands and heads, and I started collecting examples. Some I collected because I appreciated the rendering. Some I collected because the artist …
JS Sargent: 1 Hour Portrait
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John Singer Sargent’s portrait of Eleanora Duse
When looking at John Singer Sargent’s “effortless” portraits, I often wonder how long he actually spent on each. He wanted the painting to look fresh, with an economy of brush strokes, so a painting that looks like it was done in one sitting could have taken many. He’s said to have scraped off hours, days even months worth of work because there was too much evidence of his struggle. Here’s a painting that Sargent did in a single hour. Aha. This is helpful.
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Alice Neel: “My analyst said to me, ‘Why is it so important to be honest in art?’ I said, ‘It’s not so important, it’s just a privilege.’” – Quote provided by Suzanne Walker, BA, MA, PhD, BFD …From the upcoming lecture on Portraiture After Photography – part of our ongoing WTF Art History Lecture series with Suzanne Walker …
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I’ve been talking about how to use hands as expressive elements within a drawing. I love this idea so much, both for technical practice and for powerful personal expression, that I made a class to study expressive hands and heads, and I started collecting examples. Some I collected because I appreciated the rendering. Some I collected because the artist …