A Sargent Master Study

I’ve been getting into master studies recently thanks to an artist I’ve been watching called Katie Maeve, and what better artist to study from than John Sargent who is one of the most well regarded portrait painters of all time.

Something I wanted to practice in this study is his use of hard and soft lines. The hard lines create contrast with the background to bring the viewer’s eye to important parts of the piece such as her face and hands, while the left side of the figure fades into black. There is also some soft lines between the flowers she holds and her dress.

My implementation somehow feels heavy handed in some areas, but this was a good value and lines study for me. I like how her arms turned out, and I mostly like how I conveyed her face using values.