62 Artists&Illustrators
PROJECT
USINGAPLUMBLINE and the painting next to each other
when stepping back, something
Sargent did so often that a line
was worn in his carpet.
Most 19th-century artists arranged
the colour on their palettes in the
same way. You can see this portrayed
in some self-portraits, particularly
Sargent’s An Artist in His Studio.
The paint is arranged on the far end
of the palette, away from the body.
The colours form a sort of rainbow,
with the white near the thumb and
the darker colours away from it so
they don’t mix easily.
This orderly arrangement means
that you can get into a habit of mixing
things quickly and easily instead of
having to search for your colours.
Avoid starving your palette too: you
want enough colour to make big
mixes confi dently and easily. Squeeze
out black and white paint the size of a
50p coin, and slightly smaller blobs
for the stronger colours. “You do not
want dabs of colour,” said Sargent,
“you want plenty of paint to paint with.”DRAWING AND
BLOCKING IN
To begin the drawing, work directly
onto your canvas with willow charcoal,
using a rag to wipe out any mistakes.
Sargent advised to hold the charcoal
at arm’s length, and to map only the
proportions of the head and
shoulders. You can also indicate the
mass of the hair. “Draw the things
seen with the keenest point and let
the thing unseen fuse into the
adjoining tones,” he said.
Make sure to take frequent breaks.
It is possible to “lose your eye” and
fi nd that you cannot distinguish
between a good or a bad idea.
If you take a little break and look at
something else, you might fi nd that
you come back and immediately see
the solution to a problem that you
were struggling with before. Try using
a mirror to either look at the work
upside down or fl ip the image and
try to regain your fresh eye.
After indicating the main masses
of the head in charcoal, Sargent
preferred to wipe the whole canvas
slightly with a rag, as it gave the
canvas a slightly greyish tone, faintly
showing the lines of his drawing. If
you are uncomfortable with losing the
drawing completely at this point, useA plumb line is a very useful tool- they can be bought cheaply
online or fashioned from a lump
of Blu-Tack and a piece of string.
To quote Sargent: “When drawing
from the model never be without
the plumb line in the left hand.
Everyone has a bias, either the
right or left from the vertical. The
use of the plumb line rectifi es
this and develops a keen
appreciation for the vertical.”
Use the plumb line to see how
various vertical points in the
drawing line up. The weight at
the end of the line pulls it
straight vertical, so you can hold
it up against your subject and
then against your painting in
progress. For example, in this
painting, the parting of the hair
lines up with the side of his nose.
Can you fi nd more places that
line up?
a hairspray or fi xative to fi x the
drawing to the canvas.
Next, start blocking in the tones
with Raw Umber mixed with a
generous amount of Sansodor.
Sargent’s unfi nished portraits show
that initial paint layers have
brushstrokes from quarter-inch and
half-inch brushes: the boldest,
broadest strokes were used for
fi nishing. I used a half-inch hog
bristle fi lbert.