LondonAtelier ofRepresentationalArt tutor LIZET DINGEMANS uses traditional
materialsandhistoricalresearchto replicate the 19th-century painter’s techniquesLEFTJohnSinger
Sargent,General
SirIanStandish
MonteithHamilton,
c. 1897-’98,
oiloncanvas,
71.8x54cmlike
Sargent
Paint
©NATIONAL
GALLERIES
SCOTLAND
PROJECTJ
ohn Singer Sargent is
considered one of the most
influential portrait painters of
the 19th century. A prolific artist, he
produced around 900 oil paintings
and many more drawings. In this
article I will be painting a copy of
Sargent’s portrait of General Sir Ian
Standish Monteith Hamilton from the
National Galleries of Scotland’s
collection.
Sargent was a teacher of art as
well, but many were confused by
his teaching methods, often finding
his lessons cryptic and confusing.
He urged the necessity of self-
discipline, of never being satisfied
with easy conclusions, and of always
trying to do the thing just beyond
one’s capacity. Making every stroke
have significance was key, and
Sargent emphasised training the eye,
hand and mind to work swiftly and
in unison.
Sargent never wrote a memoir
or a book dedicated to his oil painting
techniques, but luckily some
accounts of his methods made by his
students survive, which I have relied
upon for this project.SARGENT’S MATERIALS
Where possible, I have attempted to
use the materials that Sargent used in
his portrait paintings in oil. The width
of his brushes varied considerably.
Unfinished portraits show that initial
paint layers have brushstrokes fromquarter-inch and half-inch brushes,
with the biggest, boldest strokes
saved for finishing touches. I used
filbert hog bristle brushes, sizes
2 to 10, as well as a size 2 Georgian
sable rigger.
Sargent experimented a lot with his
colours, so his palette may not have
been the same for every painting.
For this tutorial, I used Titanium
White, Raw Sienna, Vermillion Red,
Rose Madder, Raw Umber, Ivory
(Bone) Black, Ultramarine Blue and
Chromium Green, all Winsor &
Newton or Michael Harding artists’ oil
colours. He favoured Lead or Flake
White, which are now considered
highly toxic, so I do not recommendusing them. Sargent’s paint medium
consisted of turpentine at the start,
as well as linseed oil. Turpentine can
be dangerous to your health, so I have
opted for Sansodor.
Sargent preferred either a canvas
primed with a white or cool grey
ground. All his grey canvases have a
cool tone made by mixing Ivory Black
and Lead White in linseed oil. I have
chosen to go for a white canvas with
a medium-to-fine weave, and to use a
willow charcoal drawing underneath
to make the canvas slightly greyer.SETTING UP
Sargent’s easel was upright, next to
the sitter, so he could see the sitter
Artists & Illustrators 61